Migrate data between ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances - Data Transmission Service

This topic describes how to migrate data between ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances by using Data Transmission Service (DTS). DTS supports schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration. When you configure a data migration task, you can select all the supported migration types to ensure service continuity.

Supported source and destination database types

In this example, the types of the source and destination databases are both ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL. You can also follow the procedure to configure data synchronization tasks for other types of MySQL databases.

Source database type	Destination database type
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance The following types of self-managed MySQL databases: Self-managed database with a public IP address Self-managed database that is hosted on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Self-managed database that is connected over Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway Self-managed database that is connected over Database Gateway	ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance The following types of self-managed MySQL databases: Self-managed database with a public IP address Self-managed database that is hosted on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Self-managed database that is connected over Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway Self-managed database that is connected over Database Gateway

Prerequisites

The source and destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances are created. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
The available storage of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance must be greater than that of the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

Usage notes

Note

During schema migration, DTS migrates foreign keys from the source database to the destination database.
During full data migration and incremental data migration, DTS temporarily disables the constraint check and cascade operations on foreign keys at the session level. If you perform the cascade and delete operations on the source database during data migration, data inconsistency may occur.

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. 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 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. 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 Service Level Agreement (SLA) of DTS may not be guaranteed. 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.
Other limits	To ensure compatibility, the versions of the source and destination MySQL databases must be the same. 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. If DDL statements fail to be executed in the destination database, the DTS task continues to run. You can view the DDL statements that fail to be executed in task logs. For more information about how to view task logs, see View task logs. If you write column names that differ only in capitalization to the same table in the destination MySQL database, the data migration result may not meet your expectations because the column names in MySQL databases are not case-sensitive. After data migration is complete, we recommend that you run the `analyze table <table name>` command to check whether data is written to the destination table. For example, if a high-availability (HA) switchover is triggered in the source MySQL database, data may be written only to the memory. As a result, data loss occurs. If the source database is an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance for which the EncDB feature is enabled, full data migration cannot be performed.
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. If the destination database is an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance, take note of the following limit: DTS automatically creates a database in the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. However, if the name of the source database does not comply with the database naming conventions of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, you must manually create a database in the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Manage databases.

Billing

Migration type	Instance 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
Data Transmission Service (DTS) migrates the schemas of the selected objects from the source database to the destination database.
Note
- DTS supports schema migration for the following types of objects: tables, views, triggers, stored procedures, and stored functions.
- During schema migration, DTS changes the value of the SECURITY attribute from DEFINER to INVOKER for views, stored procedures, and stored functions.
- DTS does not migrate user information. To call a view, stored procedure, or stored function of the destination database, you must grant the read and write permissions to INVOKER.
Full data migration
DTS migrates the historical data of the selected objects from the source database to the destination database.
Incremental data migration
After full data migration is completed, 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, and DELETE
DDL	ALTER TABLE and ALTER VIEW CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE INDEX, CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE VIEW DROP INDEX and DROP TABLE RENAME TABLE Important RENAME TABLE operations may cause data inconsistency between the source and destination databases. For example, if you select a table as the object to be migrated and rename the table during data migration, the data of this table is not migrated to the destination database. To prevent this situation, select the database to which this table belongs as the object to be migrated when you configure the data migration task. Make sure that the databases to which the table belongs before and after the RENAME TABLE operation are added to the objects to be migrated. TRUNCATE TABLE

Permissions required for database accounts

Database type	Schema migration	Full data migration	Incremental data migration
The source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance	The SELECT permission	The SELECT permission	Read and write permissions
Destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance	Read and write permissions	Read and write permissions	Read and write permissions

For information about how to create and authorize a database account, see the following topics:

ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance: Create an account and Modify the permissions of an account.

Note

If the source database account that you use is not created and granted permissions in the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL console, make sure that the account has the REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE, SHOW VIEW, and SELECT permissions.
If you want to migrate the account information of the source database, additional permissions are required for the source and destination database accounts that are used when you configure the DTS task. For more information, see Migrate database accounts.

Procedure

Go to the Data Migration page.
1. Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.
2. In the top navigation bar, move the pointer over DTS.
3. Choose DTS (DTS) > Data Migration.
Note
- The actual operations 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.
- You can also go to the Data Migration page of the new DTS console.
From the drop-down list on the right side of Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which your data migration instance resides.
Note
If you use the new DTS console, you must select the region in which the data migration instance resides in the upper-left corner.
Click Create Task to go to the task configuration page.
Optional: In the upper-right corner of the page, click New Configuration Page.
Note
- Skip this step if the Back to Previous Version button is displayed in the upper-right corner of the page.
- Some parameters may differ between the new and previous versions of the configuration page. We recommend that you use the new configuration page.

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.

Section	Parameter	Description
N/A	Task Name	The name of the task. DTS automatically assigns a name to the task. 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 a DMS database instance.	In this example, no database instance is selected. Configure the following database information.
	Database Type	The type of the source database. Select MySQL.
	Access Method	The access method of the source database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance resides.
	Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts	Specifies whether to migrate data across Alibaba Cloud accounts. In this example, No is selected. Note If you want to migrate data across Alibaba Cloud accounts, select Yes. For more information, see Configure a DTS task across Alibaba Cloud accounts.
	RDS Instance ID	The ID of the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. Note The source and destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances can be the same or different. You can use DTS to migrate data within an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance or between two ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances.
	Database Account	The database account of the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For more information about the permissions that are required for the account, see the Permissions required for database accounts section of this topic.
	Database Password	The password of the database account.
	Encryption	Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the source database instance. Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If you select SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Configure the SSL encryption feature.
Destination Database	Select a DMS database instance.	In this example, no database instance is selected. Configure the following database information.
	Database Type	The type of the destination database. Select MySQL.
	Access Method	The access method of the destination database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance resides.
	Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts	Specifies whether to migrate data across Alibaba Cloud accounts. In this example, No is selected.
	RDS Instance ID	The ID of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. Note The source and destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances can be the same or different. You can use DTS to migrate data within an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance or between two ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances.
	Database Account	The database account of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB instance. For more information about the required account permissions, see the Permissions required for database accounts section of this topic.
	Database Password	The password of the database account.
	Encryption	Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the source database instance. Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If you select SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Configure the SSL encryption feature.

In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.
If the source or destination database is an Alibaba Cloud database instance, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the IP address whitelist of the instance. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database hosted on an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of the ECS instance, and you must make sure that the ECS instance can access the database. If the self-managed database is hosted on multiple ECS instances, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of each ECS instance. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database that is deployed in a data center or provided by a third-party cloud service provider, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the IP address whitelist of the database to allow DTS to access the database. For more information, see the CIDR blocks of DTS servers section of the Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers topic.
Warning
If the public CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the whitelist of a database instance or to the security group rules of an ECS instance, security risks may arise. Therefore, before you use DTS to migrate data, you must understand and acknowledge the potential risks and take preventive measures, including but not limited to the following measures: enhancing the security of your username and password, limiting the ports that are exposed, authenticating API calls, regularly checking the whitelist or security group rules and forbidding unauthorized CIDR blocks, or connecting the database instance to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.

Configure the objects to be migrated.

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

Parameter	Description
Migration Types	To perform only full data migration, select Schema Migration and Full Data Migration. To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration. Note If you do not select Incremental Data Migration, we recommend that you do not write data to the source database during data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination databases.
Method to Migrate Triggers in Source Database	The method that is used to migrate triggers from the source database. You can select a migration method based on your business requirements. If no triggers are to be migrated, you do not need to configure this parameter. For more information, see Synchronize or migrate triggers from the source database. Note This parameter is available only if you select both Schema Migration and Incremental Data Migration for Migration Types.
Enable Migration Assessment	Specifies whether to enable migration assessment. Migration assessment aims to check whether the schemas of the source and destination databases, such as the length of indexes, stored procedures, and dependent tables, meet the requirements. You can select Yes or No based on your business requirements. Note You can configure this parameter only if you select Schema Migration for Migration Types. If you select Yes, the precheck may take more time. You can view Assessment Result during the precheck. The assessment results do not affect the precheck results.
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, DTS does not migrate data records that have the same primary keys as data records in the destination database. If the source and destination databases have different schemas, only specific columns are migrated or the data migration task fails. Proceed with caution.
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 and click the icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section. Note You can select columns, tables, or databases as the objects to be migrated. If you select tables or columns as the objects to be migrated, DTS does not migrate other objects, such as views, triggers, or stored procedures, to the destination database.
Selected Objects	To rename an object that you want to migrate to the destination instance, right-click the object in the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map the name of a single object. To rename multiple objects at a time, click Batch Edit in the upper-right corner of the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map multiple object names at a time. Note If you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that are dependent on the object may fail to be migrated. To specify WHERE conditions to filter data, right-click a table in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, specify the conditions. For more information, see Set filter conditions. To migrate DML or DDL operations performed on a specific database or table, right-click the object in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, select the DML or DDL operations that you want to migrate. For more information about the SQL operations that support incremental migration, see the SQL operations that support incremental migration section of this topic.

Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.

Parameter	Description
Dedicated Cluster for Task Scheduling	By default, DTS schedules the task to a shared cluster. You do not need to configure this parameter. 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.
Copy the temporary table of the Online DDL tool that is generated in the source table to the destination database.	If you use DMS or the gh-ost tool to perform online DDL operations on the source database, you can specify whether to migrate the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Valid values: Important You cannot use tools such as pt-online-schema-change to perform online DDL operations on the source database. Otherwise, the DTS task fails. Yes: DTS migrates the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Note If online DDL operations generate a large amount of data, latency may occur for the data migration task. No, Adapt to DMS Online DDL: DTS does not migrate the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Only the original DDL operations that are performed by using DMS are migrated. Note If you select No, Adapt to DMS Online DDL, the tables in the destination database may be locked. No, Adapt to gh-ost: DTS does not migrate the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Only the original DDL operations that are performed by using the gh-ost tool are migrated. You can use the default or custom regular expressions to filter out the shadow tables of the gh-ost tool and tables that are not required. Note If you select No, Adapt to gh-ost, the tables in the destination database may be locked.
Whether to Migrate Accounts	Specifies whether to migrate the account information of the source database. You can configure this parameter based on your business requirements. If you select Yes, you must select the accounts that you want to migrate and check the permissions of the source and destination database accounts used in the data migration task.
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 1440. 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.
Environment Tag	The environment tag that is used to identify the DTS instance. You can select an environment tag based on your business requirements. In this example, no environment tag is selected.
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. Yes: does not write SQL operations on heartbeat tables. In this case, 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.
Configure ETL	Specifies whether to enable the extract, transform, and load (ETL) feature. For more information, see What is ETL? Valid values: Yes: configures the ETL feature. You can enter data processing statements in the code editor. For more information, see Configure ETL in a data migration or data synchronization task. No: does not configure the ETL feature.
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: No: does not configure alerting. Yes: configures alerting. In this case, you must also configure the alert threshold and alert notification settings. For more information, see Configure monitoring and alerting when you create a DTS task.

Click Next Step: Verification Configurations to configure data verification.
For more information about how to use the data verification feature, see Configure a data verification task.

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 generated for an item during the precheck, perform the following operations based on the scenario:
  If the 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.
Wait until the success rate becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

Purchase a data migration instance.

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

Read and agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms by selecting the check box.
Click Buy and Start to start the data migration task. You can view the progress of the task in the task list.