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Data Transmission Service:Migrate RDS MySQL to Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka

Last Updated:Mar 13, 2025

This topic explains how to migrate RDS MySQL to Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka using Data Transmission Service (DTS).

Prerequisites

  • The source instance RDS MySQL and the destination instance Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka are already created.

    Note
  • The storage capacity of the destination instance Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka must exceed the space used by the source instance RDS MySQL.

  • A topic has been established in the destination instance Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka to accept the migrated data. For more information, see Step 1: Create a topic.

Notes

Note

DTS does not migrate foreign keys from the source to the destination database. As a result, operations like cascade and delete in the source database are not replicated to the destination database.

Category

Description

Limits on the source database

  • The server on which the source database is deployed must have sufficient outbound bandwidth. Otherwise, the data migration speed decreases.

  • The tables to be migrated must have PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraints and all fields must be unique. Otherwise, the destination database may contain duplicate data records.

  • If you select tables as the objects to be migrated and you want to modify the tables in the destination database, such as renaming tables or columns, you can migrate up to 1,000 tables in a single data migration task. If you run a task to migrate more than 1,000 tables, a request error occurs. In this case, we recommend that you configure multiple tasks to migrate the tables or configure a task to migrate the entire database.

  • If you want to migrate incremental data, the following requirements for binary logs must be met:

    • The binary logging feature is enabled in the ApsaraDB RDS console. For more information, see Modify instance parameters. The binlog_format parameter is set to row and the binlog_row_image parameter is set to full. Otherwise, error messages are returned during the precheck and the data migration task fails to be started.

      Important

      If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database that is deployed in a dual-primary cluster, you must set the log_slave_updates parameter to ON. This ensures that DTS can obtain all binary logs. For more information, see Create an account for a self-managed MySQL database and configure binary logging.

    • The binary logs of the source database must be stored for at least seven days. Otherwise, DTS may fail to obtain the binary logs and the task may fail. In exceptional circumstances, data inconsistency or loss may occur. Make sure that you configure the retention period of binary logs based on the preceding requirements. Otherwise, the service reliability or performance stated in the SLA of DTS may not be guaranteed. For more information about how to manage the binary log files of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance, see Manage binary log files.

  • Limits on operations to be performed on the source database:

    • During schema migration and full data migration, do not execute DDL statements to change the schemas of databases or tables. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.

    • If you perform only full data migration, do not write data to the source database during data migration. Otherwise, data inconsistency between the source and destination databases occurs. To ensure data consistency, we recommend that you select schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration as the migration types.

  • The data generated by change operation of binary logs, such as data restored from a physical backup or data from a cascade operation, is not recorded and migrated to the destination database when the data migration instance is running.

    Note

    If the change data is not recorded and migrated to the destination database, you can migrate full data again on the premise that your business is not affected.

  • If the source database is MySQL database 8.0.23 or later, and the data to be migrated includes invisible columns, the data of the columns cannot be obtained and data loss occurs.

    Note
    • To make the columns visible, run the ALTER TABLE <table_name> ALTER COLUMN <column_name> SET VISIBLE; command. For more information, see Invisible Columns.

    • Tables that do not have primary keys automatically generate invisible primary keys. You need to make the invisible primary keys visible. For more information, see Generated Invisible Primary Keys.

Other limits

  • Before you configure a data migration task, you must create a Kafka cluster of version 0.10.1.0 to 2.0.

  • You can select only tables as the objects to be migrated.

  • Before you migrate data, evaluate the impact of data migration on the performance of the source and destination databases. We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. During full data migration, DTS uses the read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads on the database servers.

  • During full data migration, concurrent INSERT operations cause fragmentation in the tables of the destination database. After full data migration is complete, the tablespace of the destination database is larger than that of the source database.

  • You must make sure that the precision settings for columns of the FLOAT or DOUBLE data type meet your business requirements. DTS uses the ROUND(COLUMN,PRECISION) function to retrieve values from columns of the FLOAT or DOUBLE data type. If you do not specify a precision, DTS sets the precision for columns of the FLOAT data type to 38 digits and the precision for columns of the DOUBLE data type to 308 digits.

  • DTS attempts to resume data migration tasks that failed within the last seven days. Before you switch workloads to the destination database, you must stop or release the failed task. You can also execute the REVOKE statement to revoke the write permissions from the accounts that are used by DTS to access the destination database. Otherwise, the data in the source database overwrites the data in the destination database after a failed task is resumed.

  • Data inconsistency between the source and destination databases occurs if data from other sources is written to the destination database during data synchronization.

  • If the destination Kafka cluster is upgraded or downgraded during data migration, you must restart the data migration task.

  • If the source database is an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance for which the EncDB feature is enabled, full data migration cannot be performed.

    Note

    ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that have the Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) feature enabled support schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration.

  • If a DTS task fails to run, DTS technical support will try to restore the task within 8 hours. During the restoration, the task may be restarted, and the parameters of the task may be modified.

    Note

    Only the parameters of the task may be modified. The parameters of databases are not modified. The parameters that may be modified include but are not limited to the parameters in the "Modify instance parameters" section of the Modify the parameters of a DTS instance topic.

Special cases

  • If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database, take note of the following limits:

    • If you perform a primary/secondary switchover on the source database when the data migration task is running, the task fails.

    • DTS calculates migration latency based on the timestamp of the latest migrated data in the destination database and the current timestamp in the source database. If no DML operation is performed on the source database for a long time, the migration latency may be inaccurate. If the latency of the data migration task is excessively high, you can perform a DML operation on the source database to update the latency.

      Note

      If you select an entire database as the object to be migrated, you can create a heartbeat table. The heartbeat table is updated or receives data every second.

    • DTS executes the CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `test` statement in the source database as scheduled to move forward the binary log file position.

  • If the source database is an Apsara RDS for MySQL instance, take note of the following limit:

    • In incremental data migration, an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance that does not record transaction logs, such as a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL V5.6 instance, cannot be used as the source database.

    • DTS executes the CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `test` statement in the source database as scheduled to move forward the binary log file position.

Billing rules

Migration type

Task configuration fee

Internet traffic fee

Schema migration and full data migration

Free of charge.

Charged only when data is migrated from Alibaba Cloud over the Internet. For more information, see Billing overview.

Incremental data migration

Charged. For more information, see Billing overview.

Migration types

  • Schema migration

    DTS migrates the schemas of the selected objects from the source database to the destination database.

  • Full data migration

    DTS migrates the historical data of required objects from the source database to the destination database.

  • Incremental data migration

    After full data migration is complete, DTS migrates incremental data from the source database to the destination database. Incremental data migration allows data to be migrated smoothly without interrupting the services of self-managed applications during data migration.

SQL operations that support incremental migration

Operation type

SQL statement

DML

INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE

DDL

  • CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, DROP TABLE, RENAME TABLE, TRUNCATE TABLE

  • CREATE VIEW, ALTER VIEW, DROP VIEW

  • CREATE PROCEDURE, ALTER PROCEDURE, DROP PROCEDURE

  • CREATE FUNCTION, DROP FUNCTION, CREATE TRIGGER, DROP TRIGGER

  • CREATE INDEX, DROP INDEX

Permissions required for database accounts

Database

Schema migration

Full migration

Incremental migration

Source RDS MySQL instance

The read permissions on the objects to migrate.

Procedure

  1. Use one of the following methods to go to the Data Migration page and select the region in which the data migration instance resides.

    DTS console

    1. Log on to the DTS console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Data Migration.

    3. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region in which the data migration instance resides.

    DMS console

    Note

    The actual operation may vary based on the mode and layout of the DMS console. For more information, see Simple mode and Customize the layout and style of the DMS console.

    1. Log on to the DMS console.

    2. In the top navigation bar, move the pointer over Data + AI > DTS (DTS) > Data Migration .

    3. From the drop-down list to the right of Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which the data synchronization instance resides.

  2. Click Create Task to go to the task configuration page.

  3. Configure the source and destination databases. The following table describes the parameters.

    Warning

    After you configure the source and destination databases, we recommend that you read the Limits that are displayed in the upper part of the page. Otherwise, the task may fail or data inconsistency may occur.

    Category

    Configuration

    Description

    None

    Task Name

    The name of the DTS task. DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify a descriptive name that makes it easy to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.

    Source Database

    Select Existing Connection

    The instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements.

    • If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database.

    • If you do not use an existing instance, you must configure the database information below.

    Note

    Database Type

    Select MySQL.

    Access Method

    Select Cloud Instance.

    Instance Region

    Select the region where the source RDS MySQL instance resides.

    Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts

    This scenario involves migration between the same Alibaba Cloud account. Select No Cross-account.

    RDS Instance ID

    Select the ID of the source RDS MySQL instance.

    Database Account

    Enter the account of the source RDS MySQL instance. The account must have the read permissions on the objects to migrate.

    Database Password

    The password that is used to access the database.

    Encryption

    Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the database. You can select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If you want to set this parameter to SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the DTS task. For more information, see Use a cloud certificate to enable SSL encryption.

    Destination Database

    Select Existing Connection

    The instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements.

    • If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database.

    • If you do not use an existing instance, you must configure the database information below.

    Note

    Database Type

    Select Kafka.

    Access Method

    Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.

    Instance Region

    Select the region where the destination Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka instance resides.

    Kafka Instance ID

    Select the ID of the destination Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka instance.

    Encryption

    Select Non-encrypted Connection or SCRAM-SHA-256 based on your business and security requirements.

    Topic

    Select a specific topic from the drop-down list.

    Topic For Storing DDL

    Select a specific topic from the drop-down list to store DDL information. If you do not specify a topic, the DDL information is stored in the topic selected for Topic by default.

    Use Kafka Schema Registry

    Kafka Schema Registry provides a serving layer for your metadata. It provides a RESTful API for storing and retrieving your Avro schemas.

    • No: Do not use Kafka Schema Registry.

    • Yes: Use Kafka Schema Registry. You need to enter the URL or IP address where the Avro schema is registered in Kafka Schema Registry.

  4. In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.

    Note
    • Make sure that the CIDR blocks of DTS servers can be automatically or manually added to the security settings of the source and destination databases to allow access from DTS servers. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers.

    • If the source or destination database is a self-managed database and its Access Method is not set to Alibaba Cloud Instance, click Test Connectivity in the CIDR Blocks of DTS Servers dialog box.

  5. Configure the objects to be migrated.

    1. On the Configure Objects page, configure the objects that you want to migrate.

      Configuration

      Description

      Migration Types

      • If you only need to perform a full migration, select both Schema Migration and Full Data Migration.

      • If you need to perform a non-disruptive migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration.

      Note
      • When the destination database is an Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka instance, Schema Migration is not supported.

      • If you do not choose Incremental Data Migration, avoid writing new data to the source instance during data migration to maintain data consistency.

      Processing Mode of Conflicting Tables

      • Precheck and Report Errors: checks whether the destination database contains tables that use the same names as tables in the source database. If the source and destination databases do not contain tables that have identical table names, the precheck is passed. Otherwise, an error is returned during the precheck and the data migration task cannot be started.

        Note

        If the source and destination databases contain tables with identical names and the tables in the destination database cannot be deleted or renamed, you can use the object name mapping feature to rename the tables that are migrated to the destination database. For more information, see Map object names.

      • Ignore Errors and Proceed: skips the precheck for identical table names in the source and destination databases.

        Warning

        If you select Ignore Errors and Proceed, data inconsistency may occur and your business may be exposed to the following potential risks:

        • If the source and destination databases have the same schema, and a data record has the same primary key as an existing data record in the destination database, the following scenarios may occur:

          • During full data migration, DTS does not migrate the data record to the destination database. The existing data record in the destination database is retained.

          • During incremental data migration, DTS migrates the data record to the destination database. The existing data record in the destination database is overwritten.

        • If the source and destination databases have different schemas, only specific columns are migrated or the data migration task fails. Proceed with caution.

      Data Format Delivery to Kafka

      Select the data storage format for Kafka based on your requirements.

      Kafka Data Compression Format

      Select the Kafka message compression format based on your requirements.

      • LZ4 (default) offers a low compression ratio with high compression speed.

      • GZIP: Offers a high compression ratio with slower compression speed.

        Note

        Uses more CPU resources.

      • Snappy: Offers a balance between compression ratio and speed.

      Kafka Delivery Partition Strategy

      Choose a migration strategy that aligns with your business needs. For more information, see the Kafka partition migration strategy description.

      Capitalization of Object Names in Destination Instance

      The capitalization of database names, table names, and column names in the destination instance. By default, DTS default policy is selected. You can select other options to make sure that the capitalization of object names is consistent with that of the source or destination database. For more information, see Specify the capitalization of object names in the destination instance.

      Source Objects

      Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section. Click the 向右小箭头 icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section.

      Note

      Only tables can be selected for migration.

      Selected Objects

      In this example, no additional configuration is necessary. You can utilize the mapping feature to define the topic name, partition count, partition key, and additional details for the source table in the target Kafka instance. For more information, see Mapping information.

      Note
      • Using the object name mapping feature may cause dependent objects to fail migration.

      • To choose SQL operations for incremental migration, right-click the object you want to migrate in the Selected Objects box, and then select the necessary SQL operations from the pop-up dialog box.

    2. Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.

      Configuration

      Description

      Dedicated Cluster for Task Scheduling

      By default, DTS schedules the data migration task to the shared cluster if you do not specify a dedicated cluster. If you want to improve the stability of data migration tasks, purchase a dedicated cluster. For more information, see What is a DTS dedicated cluster.

      Retry Time for Failed Connections

      The retry time range for failed connections. If the source or destination database fails to be connected after the data migration task is started, DTS immediately retries a connection within the retry time range. Valid values: 10 to 1,440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 720. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 30. If DTS is reconnected to the source and destination databases within the specified retry time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.

      Note
      • If you specify different retry time ranges for multiple data migration tasks that share the same source or destination database, the value that is specified later takes precedence.

      • When DTS retries a connection, you are charged for the DTS instance. We recommend that you specify the retry time range based on your business requirements. You can also release the DTS instance at the earliest opportunity after the source database and destination instance are released.

      Retry Time for Other Issues

      The retry time range for other issues. For example, if DDL or DML operations fail to be performed after the data migration task is started, DTS immediately retries the operations within the retry time range. Valid values: 1 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 10. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 10. If the failed operations are successfully performed within the specified retry time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.

      Important

      The value of the Retry Time for Other Issues parameter must be smaller than the value of the Retry Time for Failed Connections parameter.

      Enable Throttling for Full Data Migration

      Specifies whether to enable throttling for full data migration. During full data migration, DTS uses the read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads of the database servers. You can enable throttling for full data migration based on your business requirements. To configure throttling, you must configure the Queries per second (QPS) to the source database, RPS of Full Data Migration, and Data migration speed for full migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server.

      Note

      You can configure this parameter only if you select Full Data Migration for the Migration Types parameter.

      Enable Throttling for Incremental Data Migration

      Specifies whether to enable throttling for incremental data migration. To configure throttling, you must configure the RPS of Incremental Data Migration and Data migration speed for incremental migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server.

      Note

      You can configure this parameter only if you select Incremental Data Migration for the Migration Types parameter.

      Whether to delete SQL operations on heartbeat tables of forward and reverse tasks

      Specifies whether to write SQL operations on heartbeat tables to the source database while the DTS instance is running. Valid values:

      • Yes: does not write SQL operations on heartbeat tables. In this case, a latency of the DTS instance may be displayed.

      • No: writes SQL operations on heartbeat tables. In this case, features such as physical backup and cloning of the source database may be affected.

      Environment Tag

      Select an environment tag to identify the instance based on your situation. No configuration is needed for this example.

      Configure ETL

      Specifies whether to enable the extract, transform, and load (ETL) feature. For more information, see What is ETL? Valid values:

      Monitoring and Alerting

      Specifies whether to configure alerting for the data migration task. If the task fails or the migration latency exceeds the specified threshold, the alert contacts receive notifications. Valid values:

  6. Save the task settings and run a precheck.

    • To view the parameters to be specified when you call the relevant API operation to configure the DTS task, move the pointer over Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck and click Preview OpenAPI parameters.

    • If you do not need to view or have viewed the parameters, click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck in the lower part of the page.

    Note
    • Before you can start the data migration task, DTS performs a precheck. You can start the data migration task only after the task passes the precheck.

    • If the task fails to pass the precheck, click View Details next to each failed item. After you analyze the causes based on the check results, troubleshoot the issues. Then, run a precheck again.

    • If an alert is triggered for an item during the precheck:

      • If an alert item cannot be ignored, click View Details next to the failed item and troubleshoot the issues. Then, run a precheck again.

      • If the alert item can be ignored, click Confirm Alert Details. In the View Details dialog box, click Ignore. In the message that appears, click OK. Then, click Precheck Again to run a precheck again. If you ignore the alert item, data inconsistency may occur, and your business may be exposed to potential risks.

  7. Purchase the instance.

    1. Wait until Success Rate becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

    2. On the Purchase Instance page, configure the Instance Class parameter for the data migration instance. The following table describes the parameters.

      Section

      Parameter

      Description

      New Instance Class

      Resource Group

      The resource group to which the data migration instance belongs. Default value: default resource group. For more information, see What is Resource Management?

      Instance Class

      DTS provides instance classes that vary in the migration speed. You can select an instance class based on your business scenario. For more information, see Instance classes of data migration instances.

    3. Read and agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms by selecting the check box.

    4. Click Buy and Start. In the message that appears, click OK.

      You can view the progress of the task on the Data Migration page.

Mapping information

  1. In the Selected Objects box, hover the mouse pointer over the desired topic name at the table level.

  2. Click Edit which appears once you click the target topic name.

  3. In the Edit Table dialog box, configure the mapping information.

    Configuration

    Description

    Table Name

    The target topic name to which the source table is migrated. The default value is the Configurations for Source and Destination Databases stage in the Destination Database selected Topic.

    Important
    • If the destination database is an Alibaba Cloud Message Queue for Kafka instance, the topic name you enter must exist in the destination Kafka instance. Otherwise, the data migration fails. If the destination database is a self-managed Kafka database and the migration instance includes schema migration tasks, DTS attempts to create the topic you enter in the destination database.

    • If you modify the Table Name, the data is written to the topic you enter.

    Filter Conditions

    For more information, see Set filter conditions.

    Number of Partitions

    The number of partitions when data is written to the target topic.

    Partition Key

    When Policy for Shipping Data to Kafka Partitions is set to Ship Data to Separate Partitions Based on Hash Values of Primary Keys, you can configure this parameter to specify one or more columns as the partition key to calculate the hash value. DTS delivers different rows to the partitions of the target topic based on the calculated hash value.

    Note

    You can select Partition Key only after you deselect Synchronize All Tables.

  4. Click OK .