January 27, 2015 By Severalnines

Unlike standard MySQL server and MySQL Cluster, the way to start a MySQL/MariaDB Galera Cluster is a bit different. Galera requires you to start a node in a cluster as a reference point, before the remaining nodes are able to join and form the cluster. This process is known as cluster bootstrap. Bootstrapping is an initial step to introduce a database node as primary component, before others see it as a reference point to sync up data.

How does it work?

When Galera starts with the bootstrap command on a node, that particular node will reach Primary state (check the value of wsrep_cluster_status). The remaining nodes will just require a normal start command and they will automatically look for existing Primary Component (PC) in the cluster and join to form a cluster. Data synchronization then happens through either incremental state transfer (IST) or …