4.1.20 Replication and max_allowed_packet

max_allowed_packet sets an upper limit on the size of any single message between the MySQL server and clients, including replicas. If you are replicating large column values (such as might be found in TEXT or BLOB columns) and max_allowed_packet is too small on the source, the source fails with an error, and the replica shuts down the replication I/O (receiver) thread. If max_allowed_packet is too small on the replica, this also causes the replica to stop the I/O thread.

Row-based replication sends all columns and column values for updated rows from the source to the replica, including values of columns that were not actually changed by the update. This means that, when you are replicating large column values using row-based replication, you must take care to set max_allowed_packet large enough to accommodate the largest row in any table to be replicated, even if you are replicating updates only, or you are inserting only relatively small values.

On a multi-threaded replica (with replica_parallel_workers > 0 or slave_parallel_workers > 0), ensure that the system variable replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max is set to a value equal to or greater than the setting for the max_allowed_packet system variable on the source. The default setting for replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max, 128M, is twice the default setting for max_allowed_packet, which is 64M. max_allowed_packet limits the packet size that the source can send, but the addition of an event header can produce a binary log event exceeding this size. Also, in row-based replication, a single event can be significantly larger than the max_allowed_packet size, because the value of max_allowed_packet only limits each column of the table.

The replica actually accepts packets up to the limit set by its replica_max_allowed_packet or slave_max_allowed_packet setting, which default to the maximum setting of 1GB, to prevent a replication failure due to a large packet. However, the value of replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max controls the memory that is made available on the replica to hold incoming packets. The specified memory is shared among all the replica worker queues.

The value of replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max is a soft limit, and if an unusually large event (consisting of one or multiple packets) exceeds this size, the transaction is held until all the replica workers have empty queues, and then processed. All subsequent transactions are held until the large transaction has been completed. So although unusual events larger than replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max can be processed, the delay to clear the queues of all the replica workers and the wait to queue subsequent transactions can cause lag on the replica and decreased concurrency of the replica workers. replica_pending_jobs_size_max or slave_pending_jobs_size_max should therefore be set high enough to accommodate most expected event sizes.