If you’re using MySQL and SSL, you might want to glance over this article and give your setup a quick test.

I’ve uncovered an alarming bug in 5.5 where one could gain access to your MySQL instance just knowing the username and password (not having any SSL certificate, key, etc.)!

Of course, I’ve filed a bug about it here:

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=62743

It’s been over 4 days now, and not one comment from the MySQL Bug/Dev Team.

So once again, I feel the need to share this bug with the public, in case you are using SSL with 5.5, and think your connections are secure, or that only users with the certs/key could gain access.

For SSL Users, you’ll already have this set up, but for those who don’t, I’ve simply got mysqld (5.5.15 and 5.5.16 thus far) running with the following options:

ssl-ca      = …

In 5.5, a crashing, regression bug exists if you use SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT) *and* one of the WHERE operands is in the Primary Key (or just a unique index).

This simple crash (if only one row is in the table) will crash mysqld.

Of course I’ve filed a bug report, but that has been nearly 3 months and no updates yet.

Here is the bug I filed (which you won’t be able to view):

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=61842

Really, the only thing that happened to my bug report was that it was designated a duplicate of another bug (which we also cannot view):

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=61101

Based on the id, and the submitted dates of bugs 61100 and 61102, this initial bug (61101) was filed on May 9, 2011. So, in fact, this bug has been present for over …

SkySQL executives and a number of its partners have been invited to share their insight and expertise on MySQL® technologies and trends during the Percona Live UK conference speaking program, including:

• "Linux & H/W Optimizations for MySQL", Yoshinori Matsunobu (DeNA), Oct. 24, 9:00AM

• "The SkySQL Reference Architecture in Action", Ivan Zoratti (SkySQL), Oct. 25, 2:30PM

• "Why MariaDB?", Colin Charles (MontyProgram AB), October 25, 3:30PM

Use discount code "PLUK11sky" and save 40 GBP when you register.

If you try to start proxy 0.8.2 in Windows, and you receive this error:

The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect.

Then you need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime libraries (per the 0.8.2 changelogs). Here is the snippet from the changelogs (it just doesn’t mention the error):

The Microsoft Visual C++ runtime libraries are now a requirement for running MySQL Proxy. Users that do not have these libraries must download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update. For the current Proxy version, use the following link to obtain the package:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=26368

(Bug #12836100)

…

SkySQL today announced that it will begin reselling Severalnines' ClusterControl™ product, which enables customers to set-up a production-ready, MySQL® Cluster configuration. The latest addition to the SkySQL™ Reference Architecture - SkySQL's framework for reducing the cost and complexity of deploying some of the most common MySQL data infrastructure applications - ClusterControl™ provides a virtual DBA assistant that frees the developer from the complexity and typical learning curves associated with database clusters, and provides assistance throughout the database lifecycle.

Kaj Arnö, EVP of products at SkySQL, and Vinay Joosery, CEO of Severalnines, will give an overview of the ClusterControl™ solution in a live webinar, on November 8th at 4PM CET/10AM ET. Register for this webinar.

To learn more about this partnership, read today's …

SkySQL today announced rapid growth and success in its first year of operations, fueled by new customers, partnerships and corporate growth. Highlights of the company's first year include:

• Signing more than 160 customers in its first 12 months of operation

• Attracting the attention of leading technology and distribution partners

• Receiving 900,000 Euros from Tekes to fund R&D

“The first year can often make or break a young company,” said Ralf Wahlsten, chairman and investor in SkySQL. “Establishing a name for a startup is often a giant hurdle, especially in this economic climate. But it is one that SkySQL has surpassed, as evidenced by the number of customers, partners, and talented employees that have been attracted to the company. SkySQL’s rapid growth validates the value and quality of expertise that can only be delivered by a company with an innate understanding of what …

The other day, I just posted an article about setting up Perl on Windows for MySQL.

However, I just ran into an interesting Perl issue on Linux, and it was one slightly out of the ordinary, so I wanted to share the solution, as one might not find this one quickly otherwise.

The problem occured when trying to install the perl-DBD-MySQL module on a linux (CentOS) server, due to a dependency issue.

Most dependency issues are a little more straight-forward, but this one is what I’d almost call a ‘reverse’ dependency issue.

Here was the command:

shell$ yum install perl-DBD-MySQL

Here was the output/error:

Loaded plugins: dellsysid, fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package perl-DBD-MySQL.x86_64 0:3.0007-2.el5 set to …

This article is just a how-to for setting up Perl on Windows in order to use the perl scripts provided with MySQL, such as mysqldumpslow.pl or mysql_explain_log.pl.

Now, you might say there is a section on this topic in the MySQL manual, to which I’d agree. But, this was for ActiveState Perl 5.6. The latest ActiveState Perl is 5.12, so thoese instructions are a bit out-of-date. Also, there are some helpful “User Comments” on that same page, but again, those are slightly out-of-date in the ActiveState 5.12. So, I thought I’d just post the steps I took in order to set this up.

First, download and install ActivePerl. Click the “Download ActivePerl 5.12.4 for Windows” button (choose either 32-bit or 64-bit). You’ll be prompted to save an msi file. Save …

A customer of ours had an interesting problem regarding a query that was taking too long, around 55s. Looking at the query with the query profiler we found that it was spending most of its time in the "statistics" phase. Now the query was pretty complex, it contained nearly 20 tables with INNER JOINs, LEFT JOINs and even some subqueries. However the tables were small and fetching all the data shouldn't have taken the 55 seconds the query was taking. The problem was that the optimiser was spending too much time evaluating and finding the optimal execution plan.

There are two options in MySQL with which you can control the optimiser's behaviour a bit. The first one is optimizer_prune_level. The pruner discards non-optimal execution plans early without evaluating them fully. It is turned on by default and is not recommended to turn off unless there's a really good reason. For testing purposes we turned the pruner off for this query, but after …

Couchbase raises $14m. AppFog raises $8m. Much ado about Percona Live MySQL Conference and Expo. And more.

# Couchbase raised $14m in series C funding for its NoSQL database.

# AppFog raised $8m series B funding for its PHP-based platform-as-a-service.

# Percona announced its plans to host a Percona Live MySQL Conference and Expo on April 10-12, effectively replacing the O’Reilly MySQL Conference and Expo.

# The announcement sparked some rumblings of discomfort around the MySQL community with Giuseppe Maxia and …