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Data Transmission Service:Track data changes from a PolarDB-X 2.0 instance

Last Updated:May 30, 2024

This topic describes how to create a change tracking task to track data changes from a PolarDB-X instance.

Prerequisites

  • A PolarDB-X instance is created, and a database is created in this instance. For more information, see Create a PolarDB-X instance and Create a database.

  • If the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance is of the classic network type, an internal endpoint is configured for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

Usage notes

Category

Description

Limits on the source database

  • The source tables must have PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraints, and all fields must be unique. Otherwise, part of the tracked data changes may be duplicate.

  • If you select tables as the objects to be tracked, up to 500 tables can be tracked in a single change tracking task. If you run a change tracking task to track more than 500 tables, a request error occurs. In this case, we recommend that you configure multiple tasks to track the tables in batches or configure a change tracking task for the entire database.

  • The following requirements for binary logs must be met:

    • The binary logging feature is enabled. The value of the binlog_row_image parameter is set to full. For more information, see Parameter settings. Otherwise, error messages are returned during precheck and the change tracking task cannot be started.

    • The binary logs of the source database are stored for more than 24 hours. 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 set the retention period of binary logs based on the preceding requirements. Otherwise, the service reliability and performance stated in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of DTS may not be guaranteed.

  • If the source instance is a read-only or temporary instance, make sure that the instance records transaction logs.

Other limits

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

  • When the change tracking task is running, do not scale out or scale in the capacity of the source instance, migrate frequently-accessed tables, change shards, or perform DDL operations. Otherwise, the change tracking task fails or data inconsistency occurs.

  • If the source database is used in another task such as a running data migration task, DTS may track the data changes of other objects. In this case, you must manually filter the tracked data on the change tracking client.

  • 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 does not track the DDL operations that are performed by using pt-online-schema-change. Therefore, the change tracking client may fail to write the consumed data to the destination tables due to schema conflicts.

Permissions required for database accounts

Instance

Required permission

Source PolarDB-X instance

Read permissions on the objects for change tracking

Procedure

  1. Go to the Change Tracking Tasks page.
    1. Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.
    2. In the top navigation bar, click DTS.
    3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose DTS (DTS) > Change Tracking.
    Note
    • If you log on to the DMS console and click the Enter Simple Mode icon in the upper-right corner, you can move the pointer over the p483176 icon in the upper-left corner, and then choose All functions > DTS > Change Tracking. For more information, see Customize the layout and style of the DMS console.
    • You can also configure the settings by using the new DTS console.
  2. To the right of Change Tracking Tasks, select the region in which you want to create the change tracking task.
    Note If you use the new DTS console, you must select the region from the drop-down list to the right of Workbench on the Change Tracking Tasks page of the DTS console.
  3. Click Create Task. On the page that appears, specify the source database instance and the consumer network type.

    Warning

    After you specify the source database instance, we recommend that you read the Limits that are displayed in the upper part of the page. Otherwise, the task may fail or the tracked data cannot be consumed.

    Section

    Parameter

    Description

    None

    Task Name

    The name of the change tracking 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 use a unique task name.

    Source Database

    Select an existing database connection

    The instance to which the source database belongs. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements.

    • If you use an existing instance, DTS automatically applies the parameter settings of the source database.

    • If you do not use an existing instance, you must set parameters for the source database.

    Database Type

    The type of the source database. Select PolarDB-X 2.0.

    Access Method

    The service that is used to access the source database. The value is set to Alibaba Cloud Instance.

    Instance Region

    The region in which the source PolarDB-X instance resides.

    Instance ID

    The ID of the source PolarDB-X instance.

    Database Account

    The account of the PolarDB-X instance. The account must have read permissions on the objects for change tracking.

    Database Password

    The password that is used to access the database instance.

    Consumer Network Type

    Network Type

    The value of the Network Type parameter is fixed to VPC. You must select a VPC and a vSwitch. For more information, see VPCs.

    Note
    • After a change tracking task is configured, you cannot change the settings in the Consumer Network Type section.

    • If your change tracking client is deployed in a VPC, we recommend that you select the same VPC and vSwitch connected to the client.

    • If you track data changes over internal networks, the network latency is minimal.

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

    If the source database instance 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 in the corresponding region to the whitelist of the instance. If the source database instance is a self-managed database hosted on an ECS instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers in the corresponding region to the security group rules of the ECS instance. To allow DTS to access the database, you must also manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers in the corresponding region to the security settings of the database. If the source database instance 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 in the corresponding region to the security settings 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 track data changes, 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.

  5. Configure objects for change tracking and advanced settings.

    • Basic Settings

      Parameter

      Description

      Data Change Types

      • Data Update

        DTS tracks data updates of the selected objects, including the INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE operations.

      • Schema Update

        DTS tracks the create, delete, and modify operations that are performed on all object schemas of the source instance. You must use the change tracking client to filter the data to be tracked.

      Source Objects

      Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section and click the Rightwards arrow icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section.

    • Advanced Settings

      Parameter

      Description

      Monitoring and Alerting

      Specify whether to configure alerting for the change tracking task. If the task fails or the latency exceeds the specified threshold, the specified alert contacts can receive notifications. Valid values:

      • No: does not configure alerting.

      • Yes: configures alerting. In this case, you must also specify the alert threshold and alert contacts.

      Retry Time for Failed Connection

      The retry time range for failed connections. If the change tracking task fails, DTS immediately retries a connection within the time range. Valid values: 10 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 120. We recommend that you set the time range to more than 30 minutes. If DTS reconnects to the source instance within the specified time range, DTS resumes the change tracking task. Otherwise, the change tracking task fails.

      Note
      • If an instance serves as the source or destination database of multiple change tracking tasks, the shortest retry time range that is set for the instance 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 your earliest opportunity after the source and destination instances are released.

      Configure ETL

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

      • Yes: configures the ETL feature. You can enter your policy in the code editor.

      • No: does not configure the ETL feature.

  6. Click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck in the lower part of the page.

    You can move the pointer over Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck and click Preview OpenAPI parameters to view the parameter settings of the API operation that is called to configure the instance.

    Note
    • Before you can start the change tracking task, DTS performs a precheck. You can start the change tracking 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 troubleshoot the issues based on the error message, you can run a precheck again.

    • If an alert is generated for an item during the precheck, perform the following operations based on the scenario:

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

  8. On the Purchase Instance page, specify the billing method of the change tracking instance. The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Billing method

    • Subscription: You pay for your subscription when you create an instance. The subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method for long-term use. You are offered lower prices for longer subscription durations.

    • Pay-as-you-go: A pay-as-you-go instance is billed on an hourly basis. We recommend that you select the pay-as-you-go billing method for short-term use. If you no longer require a pay-as-you-go instance, you can release the instance to reduce costs.

    Subscription Duration

    If you select the subscription billing method, set the subscription duration and the number of instances that you want to create. The subscription duration can be one to nine months, one year, two years, three years, or five years.

    Note

    This parameter is available only if you select the Subscription billing method.

  9. Read and select the Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms.

  10. Click Buy and Start to start the change tracking task. You can view the progress of the task in the task list.

What to do next

When the change tracking task is running, you can create consumer groups based on the downstream client to consume the tracked data.

  1. For more information about how to create and manage consumer groups, see Create consumer groups.

  2. Use one of the following methods to consume the tracked data: