Codership is pleased to announce a new beta preview release of the multi-master Galera Cluster for MySQL 8.4, consisting of MySQL-wsrep 8.4.2-26.20 (release notes, download), with Galera replication library 4.20 (release notes, download) implementing wsrep API version 26. This release incorporates all changes to MySQL 8.4.2, adding a synchronous option for your MySQL High Availability solutions.

One will notice that MySQL-wsrep 8.4.2-26.20 uses the same Galera replication library 4.20 which we released alongside MySQL-wsrep 8.0.39-26.20. So there is no difference in the Galera replication library between the two 8.0 and 8.4.

Now, for MySQL 8.4.2, one might want to familiarise themselves with the changes in upstream 8.4.0 and 8.4.1, alongside the usual 8.4.2 release notes as given above. From a Galera Cluster standpoint, we have some highlights for this new release that are quite exciting.

For SST, while options like rsync will always be around, the default is now CLONE SST. Current valid SST methods are: clone, mysqldump, rsync, and of course xtrabackup-v2.

wsrep_provider_options is now implemented as a plugin, meaning system variables are generated dynamically from options read from the provider. Options can be set dynamic or readonly. Options can be deprecated. The plugin is enabled by option plugin-wsrep-provider=ON. If enabled, wsrep_provider_options can no longer be used, (an error is raised on attempts to do so).

And there is now a new wsrep_allowlist table in the mysql database. It is the wsrep_allowlist table, which stores the allowed IP addresses that can perform an IST/SST, in a comma delimited format. Before the introduction of wsrep_allowlist, as long as a node has access to Galera Cluster’s TCP ports, it an make an SST/IST request, without authentication being performed; some users prefer to have a method to make this more robust, and secure, hence with wsrep_allowlist only if the JOINER node is in the IP list, will it be allowed to join the cluster.

While this release is considered quite robust, and upstream it is already Generally Available (GA), this being our first release, we give it to you as a beta preview. Try it. Evaluate it. And report to us if you run into any problems. The next release is likely to be GA for us. Astute readers will also note that we do not have a Galera Cluster Enterprise Edition build for 8.4, yet.

Please download the latest software and update your Galera Clusters! We continue to provide repositories for popular Linux distributions, and we encourage you to use them. Contact us more more information about what Galera Cluster Enterprise Editioncan do for you.