15.13 InnoDB Startup Options and System Variables

System variables that are true or false can be enabled at server startup by naming them, or disabled by using a --skip- prefix. For example, to enable or disable the InnoDB adaptive hash index, you can use --innodb_adaptive_hash_index or --skip-innodb_adaptive_hash_index on the command line, or innodb_adaptive_hash_index or skip-innodb_adaptive_hash_index in an option file.

System variables that take a numeric value can be specified as --var_name=value on the command line or as var_name=value in option files.

Many system variables can be changed at runtime (see Section 5.1.9.2, “Dynamic System Variables”).

For information about GLOBAL and SESSION variable scope modifiers, refer to the SET statement documentation.

Certain options control the locations and layout of the InnoDB data files. Section 15.8.1, “InnoDB Startup Configuration” explains how to use these options.

Some options, which you might not use initially, help tune InnoDB performance characteristics based on machine capacity and your database workload.

For more information on specifying options and system variables, see Section 4.2.4, “Specifying Program Options”.

--ignore-builtin-innodb

In earlier versions of MySQL, this option caused the server to behave as if the built-in InnoDB were not present, which enabled the InnoDB Plugin to be used instead. In MySQL 8.0, InnoDB is the default storage engine and InnoDB Plugin is not used. This option was removed in MySQL 8.0.

--innodb[=value]

Controls loading of the InnoDB storage engine, if the server was compiled with InnoDB support. This option has a tristate format, with possible values of OFF, ON, or FORCE. See Section 5.6.1, “Installing and Uninstalling Plugins”.

To disable InnoDB, use --innodb=OFF or --skip-innodb. In this case, because the default storage engine is InnoDB, the server does not start unless you also use --default-storage-engine and --default-tmp-storage-engine to set the default to some other engine for both permanent and TEMPORARY tables.

The InnoDB storage engine can no longer be disabled, and the --innodb=OFF and --skip-innodb options are deprecated and have no effect. Their use results in a warning. These options will be removed in a future MySQL release.

--innodb-status-file

The --innodb-status-file startup option controls whether InnoDB creates a file named innodb_status.pid in the data directory and writes SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS output to it every 15 seconds, approximately.

The innodb_status.pid file is not created by default. To create it, start mysqld with the --innodb-status-file option. InnoDB removes the file when the server is shut down normally. If an abnormal shutdown occurs, the status file may have to be removed manually.

The --innodb-status-file option is intended for temporary use, as SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS output generation can affect performance, and the innodb_status.pid file can become quite large over time.

For related information, see Section 15.16.2, “Enabling InnoDB Monitors”.

--skip-innodb

Disable the InnoDB storage engine. See the description of --innodb.

daemon_memcached_enable_binlog

Enable this option on the master server to use the InnoDB memcached plugin (daemon_memcached) with the MySQL binary log. This option can only be set at server startup. You must also enable the MySQL binary log on the master server using the --log-bin option.

For more information, see Section 15.19.7, “The InnoDB memcached Plugin and Replication”.

daemon_memcached_engine_lib_name

Specifies the shared library that implements the InnoDB memcached plugin.

For more information, see Section 15.19.3, “Setting Up the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

daemon_memcached_engine_lib_path

The path of the directory containing the shared library that implements the InnoDB memcached plugin. The default value is NULL, representing the MySQL plugin directory. You should not need to modify this parameter unless specifying a memcached plugin for a different storage engine that is located outside of the MySQL plugin directory.

For more information, see Section 15.19.3, “Setting Up the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

daemon_memcached_option

Used to pass space-separated memcached options to the underlying memcached memory object caching daemon on startup. For example, you might change the port that memcached listens on, reduce the maximum number of simultaneous connections, change the maximum memory size for a key-value pair, or enable debugging messages for the error log.

See Section 15.19.3, “Setting Up the InnoDB memcached Plugin” for usage details. For information about memcached options, refer to the memcached man page.

daemon_memcached_r_batch_size

Specifies how many memcached read operations (get operations) to perform before doing a COMMIT to start a new transaction. Counterpart of daemon_memcached_w_batch_size.

This value is set to 1 by default, so that any changes made to the table through SQL statements are immediately visible to memcached operations. You might increase it to reduce the overhead from frequent commits on a system where the underlying table is only being accessed through the memcached interface. If you set the value too large, the amount of undo or redo data could impose some storage overhead, as with any long-running transaction.

For more information, see Section 15.19.3, “Setting Up the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

daemon_memcached_w_batch_size

Specifies how many memcached write operations, such as add, set, and incr, to perform before doing a COMMIT to start a new transaction. Counterpart of daemon_memcached_r_batch_size.

This value is set to 1 by default, on the assumption that data being stored is important to preserve in case of an outage and should immediately be committed. When storing non-critical data, you might increase this value to reduce the overhead from frequent commits; but then the last N-1 uncommitted write operations could be lost if a crash occurs.

For more information, see Section 15.19.3, “Setting Up the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

ignore_builtin_innodb

See the description of --ignore-builtin-innodb under “InnoDB Command Options” earlier in this section. This variable was removed in MySQL 8.0.

innodb_adaptive_flushing

Specifies whether to dynamically adjust the rate of flushing dirty pages in the InnoDB buffer pool based on the workload. Adjusting the flush rate dynamically is intended to avoid bursts of I/O activity. This setting is enabled by default. See Section 15.8.3.5, “Configuring InnoDB Buffer Pool Flushing” for more information. For general I/O tuning advice, see Section 8.5.8, “Optimizing InnoDB Disk I/O”.

innodb_adaptive_flushing_lwm

Defines the low water mark representing percentage of redo log capacity at which adaptive flushing is enabled. For more information, see Section 15.8.3.6, “Fine-tuning InnoDB Buffer Pool Flushing”.

innodb_adaptive_hash_index

Whether the InnoDB adaptive hash index is enabled or disabled. It may be desirable, depending on your workload, to dynamically enable or disable adaptive hash indexing to improve query performance. Because the adaptive hash index may not be useful for all workloads, conduct benchmarks with it both enabled and disabled, using realistic workloads. See Section 15.5.3, “Adaptive Hash Index” for details.

This variable is enabled by default. You can modify this parameter using the SET GLOBAL statement, without restarting the server. Changing the setting at runtime requires privileges sufficient to set global system variables. See Section 5.1.9.1, “System Variable Privileges”. You can also use --skip-innodb_adaptive_hash_index at server startup to disable it.

Disabling the adaptive hash index empties the hash table immediately. Normal operations can continue while the hash table is emptied, and executing queries that were using the hash table access the index B-trees directly instead. When the adaptive hash index is re-enabled, the hash table is populated again during normal operation.

innodb_adaptive_hash_index_parts

Partitions the adaptive hash index search system. Each index is bound to a specific partition, with each partition protected by a separate latch.

The adaptive hash index search system is partitioned into 8 parts by default. The maximum setting is 512.

For related information, see Section 15.5.3, “Adaptive Hash Index”.

innodb_adaptive_max_sleep_delay

Permits InnoDB to automatically adjust the value of innodb_thread_sleep_delay up or down according to the current workload. Any nonzero value enables automated, dynamic adjustment of the innodb_thread_sleep_delay value, up to the maximum value specified in the innodb_adaptive_max_sleep_delay option. The value represents the number of microseconds. This option can be useful in busy systems, with greater than 16 InnoDB threads. (In practice, it is most valuable for MySQL systems with hundreds or thousands of simultaneous connections.)

For more information, see Section 15.8.4, “Configuring Thread Concurrency for InnoDB”.

innodb_api_bk_commit_interval

How often to auto-commit idle connections that use the InnoDB memcached interface, in seconds. For more information, see Section 15.19.6.4, “Controlling Transactional Behavior of the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

innodb_api_disable_rowlock

Use this option to disable row locks when InnoDB memcached performs DML operations. By default, innodb_api_disable_rowlock is disabled, which means that memcached requests row locks for get and set operations. When innodb_api_disable_rowlock is enabled, memcached requests a table lock instead of row locks.

innodb_api_disable_rowlock is not dynamic. It must be specified on the mysqld command line or entered in the MySQL configuration file. Configuration takes effect when the plugin is installed, which occurs when the MySQL server is started.

For more information, see Section 15.19.6.4, “Controlling Transactional Behavior of the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

innodb_api_enable_binlog

Lets you use the InnoDB memcached plugin with the MySQL binary log. For more information, see Enabling the InnoDB memcached Binary Log.

innodb_api_enable_mdl

Locks the table used by the InnoDB memcached plugin, so that it cannot be dropped or altered by DDL through the SQL interface. For more information, see Section 15.19.6.4, “Controlling Transactional Behavior of the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

innodb_api_trx_level

Controls the transaction isolation level on queries processed by the memcached interface. The constants corresponding to the familiar names are:

For more information, see Section 15.19.6.4, “Controlling Transactional Behavior of the InnoDB memcached Plugin”.

innodb_autoextend_increment

The increment size (in megabytes) for extending the size of an auto-extending InnoDB system tablespace file when it becomes full. The default value is 64. For related information, see System Tablespace Data File Configuration, and Resizing the System Tablespace.

The innodb_autoextend_increment setting does not affect file-per-table tablespace files or general tablespace files. These files are auto-extending regardless of the innodb_autoextend_increment setting. The initial extensions are by small amounts, after which extensions occur in increments of 4MB.

innodb_autoinc_lock_mode

The lock mode to use for generating auto-increment values. Permissible values are 0, 1, or 2, for traditional, consecutive, or interleaved, respectively.

The default setting is 2 (interleaved) as of MySQL 8.0, and 1 (consecutive) before that. The change to interleaved lock mode as the default setting reflects the change from statement-based to row-based replication as the default replication type, which occurred in MySQL 5.7. Statement-based replication requires the consecutive auto-increment lock mode to ensure that auto-increment values are assigned in a predictable and repeatable order for a given sequence of SQL statements, whereas row-based replication is not sensitive to the execution order of SQL statements.

For the characteristics of each lock mode, see InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT Lock Modes.

innodb_background_drop_list_empty

Enabling the innodb_background_drop_list_empty debug option helps avoid test case failures by delaying table creation until the background drop list is empty. For example, if test case A places table t1 on the background drop list, test case B waits until the background drop list is empty before creating table t1.

innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size

innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size defines the chunk size for InnoDB buffer pool resizing operations. The innodb_buffer_pool_size parameter is dynamic, which allows you to resize the buffer pool without restarting the server.

To avoid copying all buffer pool pages during resizing operations, the operation is performed in “chunks”. By default, innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size is 128MB (134217728 bytes). The number of pages contained in a chunk depends on the value of innodb_page_size. innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size can be increased or decreased in units of 1MB (1048576 bytes).

The following conditions apply when altering the innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size value:

To avoid potential performance issues, the number of chunks (innodb_buffer_pool_size / innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size) should not exceed 1000.

See Section 15.8.3.1, “Configuring InnoDB Buffer Pool Size” for more information.

innodb_buffer_pool_debug

Enabling this option permits multiple buffer pool instances when the buffer pool is less than 1GB in size, ignoring the 1GB minimum buffer pool size constraint imposed on innodb_buffer_pool_instances. The innodb_buffer_pool_debug option is only available if debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

innodb_buffer_pool_dump_at_shutdown

Specifies whether to record the pages cached in the InnoDB buffer pool when the MySQL server is shut down, to shorten the warmup process at the next restart. Typically used in combination with innodb_buffer_pool_load_at_startup. The innodb_buffer_pool_dump_pct option defines the percentage of most recently used buffer pool pages to dump.

Both innodb_buffer_pool_dump_at_shutdown and innodb_buffer_pool_load_at_startup are enabled by default.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_dump_now

Immediately records the pages cached in the InnoDB buffer pool. Typically used in combination with innodb_buffer_pool_load_now.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_dump_pct

Specifies the percentage of the most recently used pages for each buffer pool to read out and dump. The range is 1 to 100. The default value is 25. For example, if there are 4 buffer pools with 100 pages each, and innodb_buffer_pool_dump_pct is set to 25, the 25 most recently used pages from each buffer pool are dumped.

innodb_buffer_pool_filename

Specifies the name of the file that holds the list of tablespace IDs and page IDs produced by innodb_buffer_pool_dump_at_shutdown or innodb_buffer_pool_dump_now. Tablespace IDs and page IDs are saved in the following format: space, page_id. By default, the file is named ib_buffer_pool and is located in the InnoDB data directory. A non-default location must be specified relative to the data directory.

A file name can be specified at runtime, using a SET statement:

You can also specify a file name at startup, in a startup string or MySQL configuration file. When specifying a file name at startup, the file must exist or InnoDB will return a startup error indicating that there is no such file or directory.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_in_core_file

To reduce the size of core files, disable this variable to prevent InnoDB buffer pool pages from being written to core files.

If innodb_buffer_pool_in_core_file is disabled but an madvise() failure occurs or marking buffer pool pages as MADV_DONTDUMP is unsupported by the operating system, an error is written to the error log and the core_file variable is disabled to prevent core files from being written.

innodb_buffer_pool_instances

The number of regions that the InnoDB buffer pool is divided into. For systems with buffer pools in the multi-gigabyte range, dividing the buffer pool into separate instances can improve concurrency, by reducing contention as different threads read and write to cached pages. Each page that is stored in or read from the buffer pool is assigned to one of the buffer pool instances randomly, using a hashing function. Each buffer pool manages its own free lists, flush lists, LRUs, and all other data structures connected to a buffer pool, and is protected by its own buffer pool mutex.

This option only takes effect when setting innodb_buffer_pool_size to 1GB or more. The total buffer pool size is divided among all the buffer pools. For best efficiency, specify a combination of innodb_buffer_pool_instances and innodb_buffer_pool_size so that each buffer pool instance is at least 1GB.

The default value on 32-bit Windows systems depends on the value of innodb_buffer_pool_size, as described below:

On all other platforms, the default value is 8 when innodb_buffer_pool_size is greater than or equal to 1GB. Otherwise, the default is 1.

For related information, see Section 15.8.3.1, “Configuring InnoDB Buffer Pool Size”.

innodb_buffer_pool_load_abort

Interrupts the process of restoring InnoDB buffer pool contents triggered by innodb_buffer_pool_load_at_startup or innodb_buffer_pool_load_now.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_load_at_startup

Specifies that, on MySQL server startup, the InnoDB buffer pool is automatically warmed up by loading the same pages it held at an earlier time. Typically used in combination with innodb_buffer_pool_dump_at_shutdown.

Both innodb_buffer_pool_dump_at_shutdown and innodb_buffer_pool_load_at_startup are enabled by default.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_load_now

Immediately warms up the InnoDB buffer pool by loading a set of data pages, without waiting for a server restart. Can be useful to bring cache memory back to a known state during benchmarking, or to ready the MySQL server to resume its normal workload after running queries for reports or maintenance.

For more information, see Section 15.8.3.7, “Saving and Restoring the Buffer Pool State”.

innodb_buffer_pool_size

The size in bytes of the buffer pool, the memory area where InnoDB caches table and index data. The default value is 134217728 bytes (128MB). The maximum value depends on the CPU architecture; the maximum is 4294967295 (2³²-1) on 32-bit systems and 18446744073709551615 (2⁶⁴-1) on 64-bit systems. On 32-bit systems, the CPU architecture and operating system may impose a lower practical maximum size than the stated maximum. When the size of the buffer pool is greater than 1GB, setting innodb_buffer_pool_instances to a value greater than 1 can improve the scalability on a busy server.

A larger buffer pool requires less disk I/O to access the same table data more than once. On a dedicated database server, you might set the buffer pool size to 80% of the machine's physical memory size. Be aware of the following potential issues when configuring buffer pool size, and be prepared to scale back the size of the buffer pool if necessary.

When you increase or decrease buffer pool size, the operation is performed in chunks. Chunk size is defined by the innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size configuration option, which has a default of 128 MB.

Buffer pool size must always be equal to or a multiple of innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size * innodb_buffer_pool_instances. If you alter the buffer pool size to a value that is not equal to or a multiple of innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size * innodb_buffer_pool_instances, buffer pool size is automatically adjusted to a value that is equal to or a multiple of innodb_buffer_pool_chunk_size * innodb_buffer_pool_instances.

innodb_buffer_pool_size can be set dynamically, which allows you to resize the buffer pool without restarting the server. The Innodb_buffer_pool_resize_status status variable reports the status of online buffer pool resizing operations. See Section 15.8.3.1, “Configuring InnoDB Buffer Pool Size” for more information.

If innodb_dedicated_server is enabled, the innodb_buffer_pool_size value is automatically configured if it is not explicitly defined. For more information, see Section 15.8.12, “Enabling Automatic Configuration for a Dedicated MySQL Server”.

innodb_change_buffer_max_size

Maximum size for the InnoDB change buffer, as a percentage of the total size of the buffer pool. You might increase this value for a MySQL server with heavy insert, update, and delete activity, or decrease it for a MySQL server with unchanging data used for reporting. For more information, see Section 15.5.2, “Change Buffer”. For general I/O tuning advice, see Section 8.5.8, “Optimizing InnoDB Disk I/O”.

innodb_change_buffering

Whether InnoDB performs change buffering, an optimization that delays write operations to secondary indexes so that the I/O operations can be performed sequentially. Permitted values are described in the following table. Values may also be specified numerically.

For more information, see Section 15.5.2, “Change Buffer”. For general I/O tuning advice, see Section 8.5.8, “Optimizing InnoDB Disk I/O”.

innodb_change_buffering_debug

Sets a debug flag for InnoDB change buffering. A value of 1 forces all changes to the change buffer. A value of 2 causes a crash at merge. A default value of 0 indicates that the change buffering debug flag is not set. This option is only available when debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

innodb_checkpoint_disabled

This is a debug option that is only intended for expert debugging use. It disables checkpoints so that a deliberate server exit always initiates InnoDB recovery. It should only be enabled for a short interval, typically before running DML operations that write redo log entries that would require recovery following a server exit. This option is only available if debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

innodb_checksum_algorithm

Specifies how to generate and verify the checksum stored in the disk blocks of InnoDB tablespaces. The default value for innodb_checksum_algorithm is crc32.

Versions of MySQL Enterprise Backup up to 3.8.0 do not support backing up tablespaces that use CRC32 checksums. MySQL Enterprise Backup adds CRC32 checksum support in 3.8.1, with some limitations. Refer to the MySQL Enterprise Backup 3.8.1 Change History for more information.

The value innodb is backward-compatible with earlier versions of MySQL. The value crc32 uses an algorithm that is faster to compute the checksum for every modified block, and to check the checksums for each disk read. It scans blocks 32 bits at a time, which is faster than the innodb checksum algorithm, which scans blocks 8 bits at a time. The value none writes a constant value in the checksum field rather than computing a value based on the block data. The blocks in a tablespace can use a mix of old, new, and no checksum values, being updated gradually as the data is modified; once blocks in a tablespace are modified to use the crc32 algorithm, the associated tables cannot be read by earlier versions of MySQL.

The strict form of a checksum algorithm reports an error if it encounters a valid but non-matching checksum value in a tablespace. It is recommended that you only use strict settings in a new instance, to set up tablespaces for the first time. Strict settings are somewhat faster, because they do not need to compute all checksum values during disk reads.

The following table shows the difference between the none, innodb, and crc32 option values, and their strict counterparts. none, innodb, and crc32 write the specified type of checksum value into each data block, but for compatibility accept other checksum values when verifying a block during a read operation. Strict settings also accept valid checksum values but print an error message when a valid non-matching checksum value is encountered. Using the strict form can make verification faster if all InnoDB data files in an instance are created under an identical innodb_checksum_algorithm value.

innodb_cmp_per_index_enabled

Enables per-index compression-related statistics in the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.INNODB_CMP_PER_INDEX table. Because these statistics can be expensive to gather, only enable this option on development, test, or slave instances during performance tuning related to InnoDB compressed tables.

For more information, see Section 25.38.7, “The INFORMATION_SCHEMA INNODB_CMP_PER_INDEX and INNODB_CMP_PER_INDEX_RESET Tables”, and Section 15.9.1.4, “Monitoring InnoDB Table Compression at Runtime”.

innodb_commit_concurrency

The number of threads that can commit at the same time. A value of 0 (the default) permits any number of transactions to commit simultaneously.

The value of innodb_commit_concurrency cannot be changed at runtime from zero to nonzero or vice versa. The value can be changed from one nonzero value to another.

innodb_compress_debug

Compresses all tables using a specified compression algorithm without having to define a COMPRESSION attribute for each table. This option is only available if debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

For related information, see Section 15.9.2, “InnoDB Page Compression”.

innodb_compression_failure_threshold_pct

Defines the compression failure rate threshold for a table, as a percentage, at which point MySQL begins adding padding within compressed pages to avoid expensive compression failures. When this threshold is passed, MySQL begins to leave additional free space within each new compressed page, dynamically adjusting the amount of free space up to the percentage of page size specified by innodb_compression_pad_pct_max. A value of zero disables the mechanism that monitors compression efficiency and dynamically adjusts the padding amount.

For more information, see Section 15.9.1.6, “Compression for OLTP Workloads”.

innodb_compression_level

Specifies the level of zlib compression to use for InnoDB compressed tables and indexes. A higher value lets you fit more data onto a storage device, at the expense of more CPU overhead during compression. A lower value lets you reduce CPU overhead when storage space is not critical, or you expect the data is not especially compressible.

For more information, see Section 15.9.1.6, “Compression for OLTP Workloads”.

innodb_compression_pad_pct_max

Specifies the maximum percentage that can be reserved as free space within each compressed page, allowing room to reorganize the data and modification log within the page when a compressed table or index is updated and the data might be recompressed. Only applies when innodb_compression_failure_threshold_pct is set to a nonzero value, and the rate of compression failures passes the cutoff point.

For more information, see Section 15.9.1.6, “Compression for OLTP Workloads”.

innodb_concurrency_tickets

Determines the number of threads that can enter InnoDB concurrently. A thread is placed in a queue when it tries to enter InnoDB if the number of threads has already reached the concurrency limit. When a thread is permitted to enter InnoDB, it is given a number of “ tickets” equal to the value of innodb_concurrency_tickets, and the thread can enter and leave InnoDB freely until it has used up its tickets. After that point, the thread again becomes subject to the concurrency check (and possible queuing) the next time it tries to enter InnoDB. The default value is 5000.

With a small innodb_concurrency_tickets value, small transactions that only need to process a few rows compete fairly with larger transactions that process many rows. The disadvantage of a small innodb_concurrency_tickets value is that large transactions must loop through the queue many times before they can complete, which extends the amount of time required to complete their task.

With a large innodb_concurrency_tickets value, large transactions spend less time waiting for a position at the end of the queue (controlled by innodb_thread_concurrency) and more time retrieving rows. Large transactions also require fewer trips through the queue to complete their task. The disadvantage of a large innodb_concurrency_tickets value is that too many large transactions running at the same time can starve smaller transactions by making them wait a longer time before executing.

With a nonzero innodb_thread_concurrency value, you may need to adjust the innodb_concurrency_tickets value up or down to find the optimal balance between larger and smaller transactions. The SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS report shows the number of tickets remaining for an executing transaction in its current pass through the queue. This data may also be obtained from the TRX_CONCURRENCY_TICKETS column of the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.INNODB_TRX table.

For more information, see Section 15.8.4, “Configuring Thread Concurrency for InnoDB”.

innodb_data_file_path

Defines the name, size, and attributes of InnoDB system tablespace data files. If you do not specify a value for innodb_data_file_path, the default behavior is to create a single auto-extending data file, slightly larger than 12MB, named ibdata1.

The full syntax for a data file specification includes the file name, file size, and autoextend and max attributes:

file_name:file_size[:autoextend[:max:max_file_size]]

File sizes are specified KB, MB or GB (1024MB) by appending K, M or G to the size value. If specifying the data file size in kilobytes (KB), do so in multiples of 1024. Otherwise, KB values are rounded to nearest megabyte (MB) boundary. The sum of the sizes of the files must be at least slightly larger than 12MB.

A minimum file size is enforced for the first system tablespace data file to ensure that there is enough space for doublewrite buffer pages:

The size limit of individual files is determined by your operating system. You can set the file size to more than 4GB on operating systems that support large files. You can also use raw disk partitions as data files.

The autoextend and max attributes can be used only for the data file that is specified last in the innodb_data_file_path setting. For example:

[mysqld]
innodb_data_file_path=ibdata1:50M;ibdata2:12M:autoextend:max:500MB

If you specify the autoextend option, InnoDB extends the data file if it runs out of free space. The autoextend increment is 64MB by default. To modify the increment, change the innodb_autoextend_increment system variable.

The full directory path for system tablespace data files is formed by concatenating the paths defined by innodb_data_home_dir and innodb_data_file_path.

For more information about configuring system tablespace data files, see Section 15.8.1, “InnoDB Startup Configuration”.

innodb_data_home_dir

The common part of the directory path for InnoDB system tablespace data files. This setting does not affect the location of file-per-table tablespaces when innodb_file_per_table is enabled. The default value is the MySQL data directory. If you specify the value as an empty string, you can specify an absolute file paths for innodb_data_file_path.

A trailing slash is required when specifying a value for innodb_data_home_dir. For example:

[mysqld]
innodb_data_home_dir = /path/to/myibdata/

For related information, see Section 15.8.1, “InnoDB Startup Configuration”.

innodb_ddl_log_crash_reset_debug

Enable this debug option to reset DDL log crash injection counters to 1. This option is only available when debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

innodb_deadlock_detect

This option is used to disable deadlock detection. On high concurrency systems, deadlock detection can cause a slowdown when numerous threads wait for the same lock. At times, it may be more efficient to disable deadlock detection and rely on the innodb_lock_wait_timeout setting for transaction rollback when a deadlock occurs.

For related information, see Section 15.7.5.2, “Deadlock Detection and Rollback”.

innodb_dedicated_server

When innodb_dedicated_server is enabled, InnoDB automatically configures the following options according to the amount of memory detected on the server:

Only consider enabling this option if your MySQL instance runs on a dedicated server where the MySQL server is able to consume all available system resources. Enabling this option is not recommended if your MySQL instance shares system resources with other applications.

For more information, see Section 15.8.12, “Enabling Automatic Configuration for a Dedicated MySQL Server”.

innodb_default_row_format

The innodb_default_row_format option defines the default row format for InnoDB tables and user-created temporary tables. The default setting is DYNAMIC. Other permitted values are COMPACT and REDUNDANT. The COMPRESSED row format, which is not supported for use in the system tablespace, cannot be defined as the default.

Newly created tables use the row format defined by innodb_default_row_format when a ROW_FORMAT option is not specified explicitly or when ROW_FORMAT=DEFAULT is used.

When a ROW_FORMAT option is not specified explicitly or when ROW_FORMAT=DEFAULT is used, any operation that rebuilds a table also silently changes the row format of the table to the format defined by innodb_default_row_format. For more information, see Defining the Row Format of a Table.

Internal InnoDB temporary tables created by the server to process queries use the DYNAMIC row format, regardless of the innodb_default_row_format setting.

innodb_directories

Defines directories to scan at startup for tablespace files. This option is used when moving or restoring tablespace files to a new location while the server is offline. It is also used to specify directories of tablespace files created using an absolute path or that reside outside of the data directory (see Section 15.6.3.6, “Creating a Tablespace Outside of the Data Directory”).

Directories defined by innodb_data_home_dir, innodb_undo_directory, and datadir are automatically appended to the innodb_directories argument value, regardless of whether the innodb_directories option is specified explicitly.

innodb_directories may be specified as an option in a startup command or in a MySQL option file. Quotes are used around the argument value because otherwise a semicolon (;) is interpreted as a special character by some command interpreters. (Unix shells treat it as a command terminator, for example.)

Startup command:

mysqld --innodb-directories="directory_path_1;directory_path_2"

MySQL option file:

[mysqld]
innodb_directories="directory_path_1;directory_path_2"

Wildcard expressions cannot be used to specify directories.

The innodb_directories scan also traverses the subdirectories of specified directories. Duplicate directories and subdirectories are discarded from the list of directories to be scanned.

For more information, see Section 15.6.3.8, “Moving Tablespace Files While the Server is Offline”.

innodb_disable_sort_file_cache

Disables the operating system file system cache for merge-sort temporary files. The effect is to open such files with the equivalent of O_DIRECT.

innodb_doublewrite

When enabled (the default), InnoDB stores all data twice, first to the doublewrite buffer, then to the actual data files. This variable can be turned off with --skip-innodb_doublewrite for benchmarks or cases when top performance is needed rather than concern for data integrity or possible failures.

If system tablespace data files (ibdata* files) are located on Fusion-io devices that support atomic writes, doublewrite buffering is automatically disabled and Fusion-io atomic writes are used for all data files. Because the doublewrite buffer setting is global, doublewrite buffering is also disabled for data files residing on non-Fusion-io hardware. This feature is only supported on Fusion-io hardware and only enabled for Fusion-io NVMFS on Linux. To take full advantage of this feature, an innodb_flush_method setting of O_DIRECT is recommended.

For related information, see Section 15.6.4, “Doublewrite Buffer”.

innodb_fast_shutdown

The InnoDB shutdown mode. If the value is 0, InnoDB does a slow shutdown, a full purge and a change buffer merge before shutting down. If the value is 1 (the default), InnoDB skips these operations at shutdown, a process known as a fast shutdown. If the value is 2, InnoDB flushes its logs and shuts down cold, as if MySQL had crashed; no committed transactions are lost, but the crash recovery operation makes the next startup take longer.

The slow shutdown can take minutes, or even hours in extreme cases where substantial amounts of data are still buffered. Use the slow shutdown technique before upgrading or downgrading between MySQL major releases, so that all data files are fully prepared in case the upgrade process updates the file format.

Use innodb_fast_shutdown=2 in emergency or troubleshooting situations, to get the absolute fastest shutdown if data is at risk of corruption.

innodb_fil_make_page_dirty_debug

By default, setting innodb_fil_make_page_dirty_debug to the ID of a tablespace immediately dirties the first page of the tablespace. If innodb_saved_page_number_debug is set to a non-default value, setting innodb_fil_make_page_dirty_debug dirties the specified page. The innodb_fil_make_page_dirty_debug option is only available if debugging support is compiled in using the WITH_DEBUG CMake option.

innodb_file_per_table

When innodb_file_per_table is enabled (the default), InnoDB stores the data and indexes for each newly created table in a separate .ibd file instead of the system tablespace. The storage for these tables is reclaimed when the tables are dropped or truncated. This setting enables InnoDBfeatures such as table compression. See Section 15.6.3.2, “File-Per-Table Tablespaces” for more information.

Enabling innodb_file_per_table also means that an ALTER TABLE operation moves an InnoDB table from the system tablespace to an individual .ibd file in cases where ALTER TABLE rebuilds the table (ALGORITHM=COPY). An exception to this rule is for tables placed in the system tablespace using the TABLESPACE=innodb_system option with CREATE TABLE or ALTER TABLE. These tables are unaffected by the innodb_file_per_table setting and can only be moved to file-per-table tablespaces using ALTER TABLE ... TABLESPACE=innodb_file_per_table.

When innodb_file_per_table is disabled, InnoDB stores the data for tables and indexes in the ibdata files that make up the system tablespace. This setting reduces the performance overhead of file system operations for operations such as DROP TABLE or TRUNCATE TABLE. It is most appropriate for a server environment where entire storage devices are devoted to MySQL data. Because the system tablespace never shrinks, and is shared across all databases in an instance, avoid loading huge amounts of temporary data on a space-constrained system when innodb_file_per_table is disabled. Set up a separate instance in such cases, so that you can drop the entire instance to reclaim the space.

innodb_file_per_table is enabled by default, which prevents ALTER TABLE from moving InnoDB tables from the system tablespace to individual .ibd files.

innodb_file_per_table is dynamic and can be set ON or OFF using SET GLOBAL. You can also set this option in the MySQL configuration file (my.cnf or my.ini) but this requires shutting down and restarting the server.

Dynamically changing the value requires privileges sufficient to set global system variables (see Section 5.1.9.1, “System Variable Privileges”) and immediately affects the operation of all connections.

The innodb_file_per-table setting does not affect the creation of temporary tables.

innodb_fill_factor

InnoDB performs a bulk load when creating or rebuilding indexes. This method of index creation is known as a “sorted index build”.

innodb_fill_factor defines the percentage of space on each B-tree page that is filled during a sorted index build, with the remaining space reserved for future index growth. For example, setting innodb_fill_factor to 80 reserves 20 percent of the space on each B-tree page for future index growth. Actual percentages may vary. The innodb_fill_factor setting is interpreted as a hint rather than a hard limit.

An innodb_fill_factor setting of 100 leaves 1/16 of the space in clustered index pages free for future index growth.

innodb_fill_factor applies to both B-tree leaf and non-leaf pages. It does not apply to external pages used for TEXT or BLOB entries.

For more information, see Section 15.6.2.3, “Sorted Index Builds”.

innodb_flush_log_at_timeout

Write and flush the logs every N seconds. innodb_flush_log_at_timeout allows the timeout period between flushes to be increased in order to reduce flushing and avoid impacting performance of binary log group commit. The default setting for innodb_flush_log_at_timeout is once per second.

innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit

Controls the balance between strict ACID compliance for commit operations and higher performance that is possible when commit-related I/O operations are rearranged and done in batches. You can achieve better performance by changing the default value but then you can lose transactions in a crash.

For durability and consistency in a replication setup that uses InnoDB with transactions:

innodb_flush_method

Defines the method used to flush data to InnoDB data files and log files, which can affect I/O throughput.

On Unix-like systems, the default value is fsync. On Windows, the default value is unbuffered.

The innodb_flush_method options for Unix-like systems include:

The innodb_flush_method options for Windows systems include:

How each setting affects performance depends on hardware configuration and workload. Benchmark your particular configuration to decide which setting to use, or whether to keep the default setting. Examine the Innodb_data_fsyncs status variable to see the overall number of fsync() calls for each setting. The mix of read and write operations in your workload can affect how a setting performs. For example, on a system with a hardware RAID controller and battery-backed write cache, O_DIRECT can help to avoid double buffering between the InnoDB buffer pool and the operating system file system cache. On some systems where InnoDB data and log files are located on a SAN, the default value or O_DSYNC might be faster for a read-heavy workload with mostly SELECT statements. Always test this parameter with hardware and workload that reflect your production environment. For general I/O tuning advice, see Section 8.5.8, “Optimizing InnoDB Disk I/O”.

If innodb_dedicated_server is enabled, the innodb_flush_method value is automatically configured if it is not explicitly defined. For more information, see Section 15.8.12, “Enabling Automatic Configuration for a Dedicated MySQL Server”.

innodb_flush_neighbors

Specifies whether flushing a page from the InnoDB buffer pool also flushes other dirty pages in the same extent.

When the table data is stored on a traditional HDD storage device, flushing such neighbor pages in one operation reduces I/O overhead (primarily for disk seek operations) compared to flushing individual pages at different times. For table data stored on SSD, seek time is not a significant factor and you can set this option to 0 to spread out write operations. For related information, see Section 15.8.3.6, “Fine-tuning InnoDB Buffer Pool Flushing”.

innodb_flush_sync

The innodb_flush_sync parameter, which is enabled by default, causes the innodb_io_capacity setting to be ignored for bursts of I/O activity that occur at checkpoints. To adhere to the limit on InnoDB background I/O activity defined by the innodb_io_capacity setting, disable innodb_flush_sync.

For related information, see Section 15.8.7, “Configuring the InnoDB Master Thread I/O Rate”.

innodb_flushing_avg_loops

Number of iterations for which InnoDB keeps the previously calculated snapshot of the flushing state, controlling how quickly adaptive flushing responds to changing workloads. Increasing the value makes the rate of flush operations change smoothly and gradually as the workload changes. Decreasing the value makes adaptive flushing adjust quickly to workload changes, which can cause spikes in flushing activity if the workload increases and decreases suddenly.

For related information, see Section 15.8.3.6, “Fine-tuning InnoDB Buffer Pool Flushing”.

innodb_force_load_corrupted

Permits InnoDB to load tables at startup that are marked as corrupted. Use only during troubleshooting, to recover data that is otherwise inaccessible. When troubleshooting is complete, disable this setting and restart the server.

innodb_force_recovery

The crash recovery mode, typically only changed in serious troubleshooting situations. Possible values are from 0 to 6. For the meanings of these values and important information about innodb_force_recovery, see Section 15.20.2, “Forcing InnoDB Recovery”.

innodb_fsync_threshold

By default, when InnoDB creates a new data file, such as a new log file or tablespace file, it flushes the contents of the write buffer to disk only after the file is fully written, which can cause a large amount of disk write activity to occur at once. To force smaller, periodic flushes, use innodb_fsync_threshold to define a threshold size for the write buffer, in bytes. The contents of the write buffer are flushed to disk when the threshold size is reached. The default value of 0 forces the default behavior.

Specifying a write buffer threshold size to force smaller, periodic flushes may be beneficial in cases where multiple MySQL instances use the same storage devices. For example, creating a new MySQL instance and its associated data files could cause large surges of disk write activity, impeding the performance of other MySQL instances that use the same storage devices. Configuring a write buffer threshold size helps avoid such surges in disk write activity.

innodb_ft_aux_table

Specifies the qualified name of an InnoDB table containing a FULLTEXT index. This variable is intended for diagnostic purposes.

After you set this variable to a name in the format db_name/table_name, the INFORMATION_SCHEMA tables INNODB_FT_INDEX_TABLE, INNODB_FT_INDEX_CACHE, INNODB_FT_CONFIG, INNODB_FT_DELETED, and INNODB_FT_BEING_DELETED show information about the search index for the specified table.

For more information, see Section 15.14.4, “InnoDB INFORMATION_SCHEMA FULLTEXT Index Tables”.

innodb_ft_cache_size

The memory allocated, in bytes, for the InnoDB FULLTEXT search index cache, which holds a parsed document in memory while creating an InnoDB FULLTEXT index. Index inserts and updates are only committed to disk when the innodb_ft_cache_size size limit is reached. innodb_ft_cache_size defines the cache size on a per table basis. To set a global limit for all tables, see innodb_ft_total_cache_size.

For more information, see InnoDB Full-Text Index Cache.

innodb_ft_enable_diag_print

Whether to enable additional full-text search (FTS) diagnostic output. This option is primarily intended for advanced FTS debugging and will not be of interest to most users. Output is printed to the error log and includes information such as:

innodb_ft_enable_stopword

Specifies that a set of stopwords is associated with an InnoDB FULLTEXT index at the time the index is created. If the innodb_ft_user_stopword_table option is set, the stopwords are taken from that table. Else, if the innodb_ft_server_stopword_table option is set, the stopwords are taken from that table. Otherwise, a built-in set of default stopwords is used.

For more information, see Section 12.9.4, “Full-Text Stopwords”.

innodb_ft_max_token_size

Maximum character length of words that are stored in an InnoDB FULLTEXT index. Setting a limit on this value reduces the size of the index, thus speeding up queries, by omitting long keywords or arbitrary collections of letters that are not real words and are not likely to be search terms.

For more information, see Section 12.9.6, “Fine-Tuning MySQL Full-Text Search”.

innodb_ft_min_token_size