A key theme of the MySQL Server 5.7 release is much improved security. Earlier releases of MySQL 5.7 have introduced features supporting this initiative including automatic generation and detection of TLS key material and client-side preference for TLS connections. The recent MySQL 5.7.8 release builds upon this and provides additional monitoring and audit capabilities that make it easy to answer the question, “How secure are my client connections?”
Tag Archives: performance
SSL/TLS in MySQL 5.7
MySQL 5.7 aims to be the most secure MySQL Server release ever, and that means some significant changes in SSL/TLS. This post aims to tie together individual enhancements introduced over the span of several Development Milestone Releases (DMRs) into the larger initiative. In the simplest terms, we hope to have a minimal TLS configuration enabled by default, and for connections to prefer TLS by default. Let’s dig into the various aspects of this:
Finding the source of problematic queries
Many MySQL users are familiar with using slow query logs and tools such as mysqldumpslow to identify poor-performing SQL commands, and MySQL 5.6 introduces new powerful tools in PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA. Both allow you to identify the date/time and the user account from which the command was issued, which is helpful – but if you’re using MySQL Enterprise Monitor (MEM), you can immediately identify the actual line of code responsible for the SQL command in question. This happens to be one of my favorite and powerful features of MEM, but it’s frequently overlooked by new and experienced MEM users alike, so I’m writing the post to highlight it.
MySQL Enterprise Monitor, of course, is a commercial product that’s part of the MySQL Enterprise subscription. But it’s freely-available under 30-day trial terms for evaluation from Oracle Software Delivery Cloud – if you aren’t a commercial customer, consider downloading MEM to see what it can do for you. And if you are a MySQL Enterprise subscriber who hasn’t deployed MEM, or haven’t yet explored some of the more advanced features, now’s the time to do so.