3.4.1 Creating a MySQL Cluster with MySQL Cluster Manager

In this section, we discuss the procedure for using MySQL Cluster Manager to create and start a new MySQL Cluster. We assume that you have already obtained the MySQL Cluster Manager and MySQL Cluster software, and that you are already familiar with installing MySQL Cluster Manager (see Chapter 2, MySQL Cluster Manager Installation, Configuration, Cluster Setup).

MySQL Cluster Manager 1.3.0 and later also supports importing existing, standalone MySQL Clusters; for more information, see Section 3.5, “Importing MySQL Clusters into MySQL Cluster Manager”.

We also assume that you have identified the hosts on which you plan to run the cluster and have decided on the types and distributions of the different types of nodes among these hosts, as well as basic configuration requirements based on these factors and the hardware charactersitics of the host machines.

Note

You can create and start a MySQL Cluster on a single host for testing or similar purposes, simply by invoking mcmd with the --bootstrap option. See Section 3.2, “Starting and Stopping the MySQL Cluster Manager Agent”.

Creating a new cluster consists of the following tasks:

• MySQL Cluster Manager agent installation and startup.  Install the MySQL Cluster Manager software distribution, make any necessary edits of the agent configuration files, and start the agent processes as explained in Chapter 2, MySQL Cluster Manager Installation, Configuration, Cluster Setup. Agent processes must be running on all cluster hosts before you can create a cluster. This means that you need to place a complete copy of the MySQL Cluster Manager software distribution on every host. The MySQL Cluster Manager software does not have to be in a specific location, or even the same location on all hosts, but it must be present; you cannot manage any cluster processes hosted on a computer where mcmd is not also running.

• MySQL Cluster Manager client session startup.  Starting the MySQL Cluster Manager client and connect to the MySQL Cluster Manager agent. You can connect to an agent process running on any of the cluster hosts, using the mcm client on any computer that can establish a network connection to the desired host. See Section 3.3, “Starting the MySQL Cluster Manager Client”, for details.

  On systems where mcm is not available, you can use the mysql client for this purpose. See Connecting to the agent using the mysql client.

• MySQL Cluster software deployment.  The simplest and easiest way to do this is to copy the complete MySQL Cluster distribution to the same location on every host in the cluster. (If you have installed MySQL Cluster Manager 1.3.6 on each host, the MySQL Cluster NDB 7.2.4 distribution is already included, in mcm_installation_dir/cluster.) If you do not use the same location on every host, be sure to note it for each host. Do not yet start any MySQL Cluster processes or edit any configuration files; when creating a new cluster, MySQL Cluster Manager takes care of these tasks automatically.

  On Windows hosts, you should not install as services any of the MySQL Cluster node process programs, including ndb_mgmd.exe, ndbd.exe, ndbmtd.exe, and mysqld.exe. MySQL Cluster Manager manages MySQL Cluster processes independently of the Windows Service Manager and does not interact with the Service Manager or any Windows services when doing so.

  Note

  You can actually perform this step at any time up to the point where the software package is registered (using add package). However, we recommend that you have all required software—including the MySQL Cluster software—in place before executing any MySQL Cluster Manager client commands.

• Management site definition.  Using the create site command in the MySQL Cluster Manager client, define a MySQL Cluster Manager management site—that is, the set of hosts to be managed. This command provides a name for the site, and must reference all hosts in the cluster. Section 4.2.6, “The create site Command”, provides syntax and other information about this command. To verify that the site was created correctly, use the MySQL Cluster Manager client commands list sites and list hosts.

• MySQL Cluster software package registration.  In this step, you provide the location of the MySQL Cluster software on all hosts in the cluster using one or more add package commands. To verify that the package was created correctly, use the list packages and list processes commands.

• Cluster definition.  Execute a create cluster command to define the set of MySQL Cluster nodes (processes) and hosts on which each cluster process runs, making up a the MySQL Cluster. This command also uses the name of the package registered in the previous step so that MySQL Cluster Manager knows the location of the binary running each cluster process. You can use the list clusters and list processes commands to determine whether the cluster has been defined as desired.

  If you wish to use SQL node connection pooling, see Setup for mysqld connection pooling before creating the cluster.

• Initial configuration.  Perform any configuration of the cluster that is required or desired prior to starting it. You can set values for MySQL Cluster Manager configuration attributes (MySQL Cluster parameters and MySQL Server options) using the MySQL Cluster Manager client set command. You do not need to edit any configuration files directly—in fact, you should not do so. Keep in mind that certain attributes are read-only, and that some others cannot be reset after the cluster has been started for the first time. You can use the get command to verify that attributes have been set to the correct values.

• Cluster startup.  Once you have completed the previous steps, including necessary or desired initial configuration, you are ready to start the cluster. The start cluster command starts all cluster processes in the correct order. You can verify that the cluster has started and is running normally after this command has completed, using the MySQL Cluster Manager client command show status. At this point, the cluster is ready for use by MySQL Cluster applications.