This section provides information about MySQL Cluster software and table file compatibility between MySQL 5.1 and MySQL Cluster NDB 6.x releases with regard to performing upgrades and downgrades.
Only compatibility between MySQL versions with regard to
NDBCLUSTER is taken into account in this
section, and there are likely other issues to be considered.
As with any other MySQL software upgrade or downgrade,
you are strongly encouraged to review the relevant portions of
the MySQL Manual for the MySQL versions from which and to which
you intend to migrate, before attempting an upgrade or downgrade
of the MySQL Cluster software. See
Section 2.11, “Upgrading MySQL”.
The following table shows Cluster upgrade and downgrade compatibility between different releases of MySQL 5.1:

Notes — MySQL 5.1.
MySQL 5.1.3 was the first public release in this series.
Direct upgrades or downgrades between MySQL Cluster 5.0
and 5.1 are not supported; you must dump all
NDBCLUSTER tables using
mysqldump, install the new version of
the software, and then reload the tables from the dump.
You cannot downgrade a MySQL 5.1.6 or later Cluster using Disk Data tables to MySQL 5.1.5 or earlier unless you convert all such tables to in-memory Cluster tables first.
MySQL 5.1.8, MySQL 5.1.10, and MySQL 5.1.13 were not released.
Online cluster upgrades and downgrades between MySQL
5.1.11 (or an earlier version) and 5.1.12 (or a later
version) are not possible due to major changes in the
cluster filesystem. In such cases, you must perform a
backup or dump, upgrade (or downgrade) the software, start
each data node with --initial, and then
restore from the backup or dump. You can use
NDB backup/restore or
mysqldump for this purpose.
Online downgrades from MySQL 5.1.14 or later to versions previous to 5.1.14 are not supported due to incompatible changes in the cluster system tables.
Online upgrades from MySQL 5.1.17 and earlier to 5.1.18
and later are not supported for clusters using replication
due to incompatible changes in the
mysql.ndb_apply_status table. However,
it should not be necessary to shut down the cluster
entirely, if you follow this modified rolling restart
procedure:
Stop the management server, update the
ndb_mgmd binary, then start it
again. For multiple management servers, repeat this
step for each management server in turn.
For each data node in turn: Stop the data node,
replace the ndbd binary with the
new version, then restart the data node. It is not
necessary to use --initial when
restarting any of the data nodes.
Stop all SQL nodes. Replace the
mysqld binary with the new
version for all SQL nodes, then restart them. It is
not necessary to start them one at a time, but they
must all be shut down at the same time before
starting any of them again using the 5.1.18 (or
later) mysqld. Otherwise —
due to the fact that
mysql.ndb_apply_status uses the
NDB storage engine and is thus
shared between all SQL nodes — there may be
conflicts between MySQL servers using the old and
new versions of the table.
You can find more information about the changes to
ndb_apply_status in
Section 20.11.4, “Cluster Replication Schema and Tables”.
The internal specifications for columns in
NDB tables changed in MySQL 5.1.18 to
allow compatibility with future MySQL Cluster releases
that are expected to implement online adding and dropping
of columns. This change is not backwards compatible with
earlier MySQL versions.
In order to make tables created in MySQL 5.1.17 and earlier compatible with online adding and dropping of columns when this features becomes available, it is necessary force MySQL 5.1.18 and later to convert the tables to the new format by following this procedure:
Upgrade the MySQL Cluster software on all data, management, and SQL nodes
Back up all NDB tables
Shut down the cluster (all data, management, and SQL nodes)
Restart the cluster, starting all data nodes with
the --initial option (to clear and
rebuild the data node filesystems)
Restore the tables from backup
This is not necessary for NDB tables
created in MySQL 5.1.18 and later; such tables will
automatically be compatible with online adding and
dropping of columns (as implemented beginning with MySQL
Cluster NDB 6.2.5 and MySQL Cluster NDB 6.3.2).
In order to minimise possible later difficulties, it is strongly advised that the procedure outlined above be followed as soon as possible after to upgrading from MySQL 5.1.17 or earlier to MySQL 5.1.18 or later.
Information about how this change effects users of MySQL Cluster NDB 6.x is provided later in this section.
MySQL Cluster is not supported in standard MySQL 5.1 releases, beginning with MySQL 5.1.25. If you are using MySQL Cluster in a standard MySQL 5.1 release, you should upgrade to the most recent MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2 or 6.3 release.
The following table shows Cluster upgrade and downgrade compatibility between different releases of MySQL Cluster NDB 6.x:

Notes — MySQL Cluster NDB 6.x.
MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1 is no longer in production; if you are still using a MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1 release, you should upgrade to the most recent MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2 or 6.3 as soon as possible.
It is not possible to upgrade from MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.2 (or an older 6.1 release) directly to 6.1.4 or a newer NDB 6.1 release, or to downgrade from 6.1.4 (or a newer 6.1 release) directly to 6.1.2 or an older NDB 6.1 release; in either case, you must upgrade or downgrade to MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.3 first.
It is not possible to perform an online downgrade from MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.8 (or a newer 6.1 release) to MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.7 (or an older 6.1 release).
MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.6 and 6.1.18 were not released.
It is not possible to perform an online upgrade or downgrade between MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2 and any previous release series (including mainline MySQL 5.1 and MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1); it is necessary to perform a dump and reload. However, it should be possible to perform online upgrades or downgrades between any MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2 release and any MySQL Cluster NDB 6.3 release up to and including 6.3.7.
The internal specifications for columns in
NDB tables changed in MySQL Cluster NDB
6.1.17 and 6.2.1 to allow compatibility with future MySQL
Cluster releases that are expected to implement online
adding and dropping of columns. This change is not
backwards compatible with earlier MySQL or MySQL Cluster
NDB 6.x versions.
In order to make tables created in earlier versions compatible with online adding and dropping of columns in later versions, it is necessary to force MySQL Cluster to convert the tables to the new format by following this procedure following an upgrade:
Upgrade the MySQL Cluster software on all data, management, and SQL nodes
Back up all NDB tables
Shut down the cluster (all data, management, and SQL nodes)
Restart the cluster, starting all data nodes with
the --initial option (to clear and
rebuild the data node filesystems)
Restore the tables from backup
In order to minimise possible later difficulties, it is
strongly advised that the procedure outlined above be
followed as soon as possible after to upgrading between
the versions indicated. The procedure is
not necessary for
NDBCLUSTER tables created in any of the
following versions:
MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1.8 or a later MySQL Cluster NDB 6.1 release
MySQL Cluster 6.2.1 or a later MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2 release
Any MySQL Cluster NDB 6.3 release
Tables created in the listed versions (or later ones, as indicated) are already compatible with online adding and dropping of columns (as implemented beginning with MySQL Cluster NDB 6.2.5 and MySQL Cluster NDB 6.3.2).
Online downgrades between MySQL Cluster NDB 6.3.8 and earlier releases are not supported.

User Comments
Add your own comment.