I recently blogged about tracking metadata locks in the latest MySQL, and now I want to discuss how to track these metadata locks in MariaDB.

In MySQL 5.7, there is a table named `metadata_locks` added to the performance_schema (performance_schema must be enabled *and* the metadata_locks instrument must be specifically enabled as well.

In the MariaDB 10.0 implementation (as of 10.0.7), there is a table named METADATA_LOCK_INFO added to the *information_schema*. This is a new plugin, so the plugin must be installed, but that is very simple with:

INSTALL SONAME 'metadata_lock_info';

Then, you will have the table.

To see it in action:

Connection #1:

mysql> create table t (id int) engine=myisam;
mysql> begin;
mysql> select * from t;

Connection #2:

mysql> alter table t add index …

I’ve blogged about metadata locks (MDL) in the past (1 2 3) and in particular discussed how best to track them down and troubleshoot threads stuck waiting on metadata locks.

If you’ve had any experience with these, you’ll know finding them isn’t always the most straight-forward task.

So I was glad to see metadata lock instrumentation added to MySQL 5.7.3 as part of performance_schema, which makes tracking these down a breeze! (Note this is only in 5.7.3 currently, and therefore is some time from being GA as of today)!

To use these, performance_schema must be enabled (i.e., performance_schema=1 in your config file).

But, also, the metadata_locks instrument is disabled by default, so even if you enable the …

While most of the talk recently has mostly been around the new changes in MySQL 5.6 (and that is understandable), I have had lately some very interesting cases to deal with, with respect to the Metadata Locking related changes that were introduced in MySQL 5.5.3. It appears that the implications of Metadata Locking have not been covered well, and since there are still a large number of MySQL 5.0 and 5.1 installations that would upgrade or are in the process of upgrading to MySQL 5.5, I thought it necessary to discuss what these implications exactly are.

The post Implications of Metadata Locking Changes in MySQL 5.5 appeared first on ovais.tariq.

While most of the talk recently has mostly been around the new changes in MySQL 5.6 (and that is understandable), I have had lately some very interesting cases to deal with, with respect to the Metadata Locking related changes that were introduced in MySQL 5.5.3. It appears that the implications of Metadata Locking have not been covered well, and since there are still a large number of MySQL 5.0 and 5.1 installations that would upgrade or are in the process of upgrading to MySQL 5.5, I thought it necessary to discuss what these implications exactly are.

To read what Metadata Locking exactly is please read this section here in the MySQL manual.

Let’s start off with having a look at the Meta Data Locking behavior prior to MySQL 5.5.3

Metadata Locking behavior prior to MySQL 5.5.3

Prior to MySQL 5.5.3 a statement that opened a …