MariaDB integration summary

This version (v2) of Stitch’s MariaDB integration optimizes replication by utilizing Avro schemas to write and validate data, thereby reducing the amount of time spent on data extraction and preparation. Compared to previous versions of the MariaDB integration, this version boasts increased performance and overall reduced replication time.

Notable improvements and changes in this version also include:

  • New column (field) naming rules. Avro has specific rules that dictate how columns can be named. As a result, column names will be canonicalized to adhere to Avro rules and persisted to your destination using the Avro-friendly name. Refer to the Column name transformations section for more info.
  • Improved handling of JSON data types. In previous versions, these data types were treated as strings. This version will send them to your destination as JSON objects, which may result in de-nesting.

To get a look at how this version compares to the previous version of MariaDB, refer to the MariaDB version comparison documentation.

MariaDB feature snapshot

A high-level look at Stitch's MariaDB (v2) integration, including release status, useful links, and the features supported in Stitch.

STITCH
Release status

Released on November 8, 2021

 Supported by

[Stitch] (https://community.qlik.com/t5/Support/ct-p/qlikSupport)
Stitch plan

Standard

 Supported versions

n/a
API availability

Available

 Singer GitHub repository

CONNECTION METHODS
SSH connections

Supported

 SSL connections

Supported
REPLICATION SETTINGS
Anchor Scheduling

Supported

 Advanced Scheduling

Supported
Table-level reset

Supported

 Configurable Replication Methods

Supported
REPLICATION METHODS
Log-based Replication

Supported

 Key-based Replication

Supported
Full Table Replication

Supported
DATA SELECTION
Table selection

Supported

 Column selection

Supported
View replication

Supported

 Select all

Supported, with prerequisites
TRANSPARENCY
Extraction Logs

Supported

 Loading Reports

Supported

Connecting MariaDB

MariaDB setup requirements

To set up MariaDB in Stitch, you need:

  • The CREATE USER or INSERT privilege (for the mysql database). The CREATE USER privilege is required to create a database user for Stitch.

  • The GRANT OPTION privilege in MariaDB. The GRANT OPTION privilege is required to grant the necessary privileges to the Stitch database user.

  • The SUPER privilege in MariaDB. If using binlog replication, the SUPER privilege is required to define the appropriate server settings.

Step 1: Verify your Stitch account's data pipeline region

First, you’ll log into Stitch and verify the data pipeline region your account is using. Later in this guide, you’ll need to grant Stitch access by whitelisting our IP addresses.

The IP addresses you’ll whitelist depend on the Data pipeline region your account is in.

  1. Sign into your Stitch account, if you haven’t already.
  2. Click User menu (your icon) > Edit User Settings and locate the Data pipeline region section to verify your account’s region.

  3. Locate the list of IP addresses for your region:

Keep this list handy - you’ll need it later.

Step 2: Configure database connection settings

In this step, you’ll configure the database server to allow traffic from Stitch to access it. There are two ways to connect your database:

  • A direct connection will work if your database is publicly accessible.
  • An SSH tunnel is required if your database isn’t publicly accessible. This method uses a publicly accessible instance, or an SSH server, to act as an intermediary between Stitch and your database. The SSH server will forward traffic from Stitch through an encrypted tunnel to the private database.

Click the option you’re using below and follow the instructions.

I'm using a direct connection.

For the connection to be successful, you’ll need to configure your firewall to allow access from our IP addresses.

The IP addresses you’ll whitelist depend on the Data pipeline region your account is in.

  1. Sign into your Stitch account, if you haven’t already.
  2. Click User menu (your icon) > Edit User Settings and locate the Data pipeline region section to verify your account’s region.

  3. Locate the list of IP addresses for your region:

  4. Whitelist the appropriate IP addresses.

I'm using an SSH tunnel to connect.

  1. Follow the steps in the Setting up an SSH Tunnel for a database connection guide to set up an SSH tunnel for MariaDB.
  2. Complete the steps in this guide after the SSH setup is complete.

Step 3: Configure Log-based Incremental Replication

While Log-based Incremental Replication is the most accurate and efficient method of replication, using this replication method may, at times, require manual intervention or impact the source database’s performance. Refer to the Log-based Incremental Replication documentation for more info.

You can also use one of Stitch’s other Replication Methods, which don’t require any database configuration. Replication Methods can be changed at any time.

Step 3.1: Configure server settings

In this step, you’ll configure your MariaDB server to use Log-based Incremental Replication.

  1. Log into your MariaDB server.

  2. Verify that binlog is enabled by running the following statement. The value returned should be 1:

    mysql> select @@log_bin;

    If this statement returns a 0, this means that binlog is disabled. You’ll enable it in the next step.

  3. Locate the my.cnf file, usually located at /etc/my.cnf. Verify that my.cnf has the following lines in the mysqld section:

    [mysqld]
binlog_format=ROW
binlog_row_image=FULL
expire_logs_days=7
log_bin=mysql-binlog
log_slave_updates=1

    A few things to note:

    • log_bin doesn’t have to be mysql-binlog - this value can be anything. Additionally, if log_bin already has an entry (which you checked in step one), you don’t need to change it.
    • Use either expire_log_days or binlog_expire_logs_seconds, not both. See the Server settings list tab for more information.
    • Setting log_slave_updates is only required if you are connecting a read replica. This isn’t required for master instances.
  4. When finished, restart your MariaDB server to ensure the changes take effect.

In the table below are the names, required values, and descriptions of the server settings you must define.

Setting Value Description
binlog_format ROW

Note: This setting is available on MariaDB databases running version 5.6.2 or greater.

Defines the binary logging format. A ROW value enables “event-based” capture, which describes what happens to records in the database. This is necessary to use binlog.

Stitch supports the following event types:

  • INSERT
  • UPDATE
  • DELETE
binlog_row_image FULL

Note: This setting is available on MariaDB databases running version 5.6.2 or greater.

Defines how row images are written to the binary log. A FULL value ensures that all columns in a row are logged in the before and after images of a change, enabling Stitch to accurately capture all changes made to a record.
expire_logs_days 7

Specifies the amount of time, in days, before the automatic removal of binary log files. Stitch recommends a retention period of 7 days, but a minimum of 3 days will also work.
log_bin mysql-binlog

Acts as the “on” switch for binary logging. This is the name of the binary logging file on the database server. For example: mysql-binlog

Note: The name of this file doesn’t have to be mysql-binlog. If your server already specifies a log-bin entry, there’s no need to change it.
log_slave_updates 1

Indicates whether updates received by a read replica from a master server should be logged to the replica’s own binary log.

Note: This is applicable when using a read replica.

Step 3.2: Retrieve server IDs

When Stitch connects to your database and uses Log-based Replication, a unique server ID will be required. This ID ensures that the integration - or integrations, if you’re connecting multiple databases - will not encounter conflicts during the replication process.

To avoid conflicts, you’ll check which server IDs are currently in use and then define a new, unqiue ID in Stitch.

  1. Log into the MySQL server that acts as the replication master.

  2. Run the following statement:

    mysql> SHOW SLAVE HOSTS;

  3. The SHOW SLAVE HOSTS statement will return information about servers that are or have been connected as replication slaves:

    +------------+-------------+------+-----------+------------+
| Server_id  | Host        | Port | Master_id | Slave_UUID |
+------------+-------------+------+-----------+------------+
| 192168010  | stitch_prod | 3306 | 192168011 | <UUID>     |
| 1921680101 | stitch_dev  | 3306 | 192168011 | <UUID>     |
+------------+-------------+------+-----------+------------+

When you complete the setup in Stitch, you’ll define a unique server ID for your Stitch MariaDB integration to use.

Step 4: Create a Stitch database user

Next, you’ll create a dedicated database user for Stitch. This will ensure Stitch is visible in any logs or audits, and allow you to maintain your privilege hierarchy.

  1. Log into your database as a user with CREATE USER and GRANT OPTION privileges.

  2. Run the following command to create the Stitch database user:

    CREATE USER '<stitch_username>'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '<password>';

    Replace <password> with a secure password. If using SSH, this can be different than the SSH password.

  3. Grant the Stitch user SELECT privileges by running this command for every table you want to replicate:

    GRANT SELECT ON '<database_name>'.'<table_name>' to '<stitch_username>'@'localhost';

    Limiting access to only the tables you want to replicate ensures that the integration can complete discovery (a structure sync) in a timely manner. If you encounter issues in Stitch where tables aren’t displaying, try limiting the Stitch database user’s table access.

    Note: Column-level permissions are not supported for use with Log-based Incremental Replication. Restricting access to columns will cause replication issues.

See the Privileges list tab for an explanation of why these permissions are required by Stitch.

In the table below are the database user privileges Stitch requires to connect to and replicate data from a MariaDB database.

Privilege name Reason for requirement
SELECT

Required to select rows from tables in a database.
REPLICATION CLIENT

Required for binlog replication. Required to use SHOW BINARY LOGS, which determines that a binary log exists.
REPLICATION SLAVE

Required for binlog replication. Required to use SHOW MASTER STATUS, which fetches the current binlog file and position on the server.

Step 5: Connect Stitch

In this step, you’ll complete the setup by entering the database’s connection details and defining replication settings in Stitch.

Step 5.1: Define the database connection details

  1. If you aren’t signed into your Stitch account, sign in now.

  2. On the Stitch Dashboard page, click the Add Integration button.

  3. Locate and click the MariaDB icon.

  4. Fill in the fields as follows:

    • Integration Name: Enter a name for the integration. This is the name that will display on the Stitch Dashboard for the integration; it’ll also be used to create the schema in your destination.

      For example, the name “Stitch MariaDB” would create a schema called stitch_mariadb in the destination. Note: The schema name cannot be changed after the integration is saved.

    • Host (Endpoint): Enter the host address (endpoint) used by the MariaDB instance. For example: This could be a network address such as 192.68.0.1, or a server endpoint like dbname.hosting-provider.com.

    • Port: Enter the port used by the MariaDB instance. The default is 3306.

    • Username: Enter the Stitch MariaDB database user’s username.

    • Password: Enter the password for the Stitch MariaDB database user.

    • Server ID: Optional: Enter the unique server ID of instance you’re connecting to Stitch.

      This can be any numeric value within MySQL’s accepted server ID range, as long as it’s unique to the instance. For example: If in the Retrieve Server IDs step there are servers with the IDs 192168010 and 1921680101, you can enter any other numbers in this field.

Step 5.2: Define the SSH connection details

If you’re using an SSH tunnel to connect your MariaDB database to Stitch, you’ll also need to define the SSH settings. Refer to the Setting up an SSH Tunnel for a database connection guide for assistance with completing these fields.

  1. Click the SSH Tunnel checkbox.

  2. Fill in the fields as follows:

    • SSH Host: Enter the public IP address or hostname of the server Stitch will SSH into.

    • SSH Port: Enter the SSH port on your server. (22 by default)

    • SSH User: Enter the Stitch Linux (SSH) user’s username.

Step 5.3: Define the SSL connection details

Click the Connect using SSL checkbox if you’re using an SSL connection. Note: The database must support and allow SSL connections for this setting to work correctly.

Step 5.4: Select databases to discover

Enter a database name in the field under Filter databases in the source to select the database that Stitch can discover. You can add multiple database names by clicking Add another database.

If no database is specified, Stitch will discover all databases on the host.

Step 5.5: Define the Log-based Replication setting

In the Log-based Replication section, you can set this as the integration’s default Replication Method.

When enabled, tables that are set to replicate will use Log-based Incremental Replication by default. If you don’t want a table to use Log-based Incremental Replication, you can change it in the Table Settings page for that table.

If this setting isn’t enabled, you’ll have to select a Replication Method for each table you set to replicate.

Step 5.6: Create a replication schedule

In the Replication Frequency section, you’ll create the integration’s replication schedule. An integration’s replication schedule determines how often Stitch runs a replication job, and the time that job begins.

MariaDB integrations support the following replication scheduling methods:

To keep your row usage low, consider setting the integration to replicate less frequently. See the Understanding and Reducing Your Row Usage guide for tips on reducing your usage.

Step 5.7: Save the integration

When finished, click Check and Save.

Stitch will perform a connection test to the MariaDB database; if successful, a Success! message will display at the top of the screen. Note: This test may take a few minutes to complete.

Step 6: Select data to replicate

The last step is to select the tables and columns you want to replicate.

Note: If a replication job is currently in progress, new selections won’t be used until the next job starts.

For MariaDB integrations, you can select:

  1. Individual tables and columns

  2. All tables and columns (except views)

  3. Database views

Click the tabs to view instructions for each selection method.

  1. In the Integration Details page, click the Tables to Replicate tab.
  2. Locate a table you want to replicate.

  3. Click the checkbox next to the table’s name. A blue checkmark means the table is set to replicate.

  4. After you set a table to replicate, a page with the table’s columns will display. De-select columns if needed.

  5. Next, you’ll define the table’s Replication Method. Click the Table Settings button.
  6. In the Table Settings page:

    1. Define the table’s Replication Method, or skip this step if you want to use the integration’s default method.

    2. If using Key-based Incremental Replication, select a Replication Key.

    3. When finished, click Update Settings.

  7. Repeat this process for every table you want to replicate.

  8. Click the Finalize Your Selections button at the bottom of the page to save your data selections.
  1. Click into the integration from the Stitch Dashboard page.

  2. Click the Tables to Replicate tab.

  3. Navigate to the table level, selecting any databases and/or schemas that contain tables you want to replicate.

  4. In the list of tables, click the box next to the Table Names column.

  5. In the menu that displays, click Track AllTables and Fields (Except Views):

    The Track AllTables and Fields (Except Views) menu in the Tables to Replicate tab

  6. Click the Finalize Your Selections button at the bottom of the page to save your data selections.

Setting a database view to replicate is similar to selecting a table, with a few differences. Refer to the Replicating Database Views guide for detailed instructions.

At a high level, you’ll need to complete the following to select a database view:

  1. Verify the database user’s permissions
  2. Select the view
  3. Optional: Define the view’s Primary Key
  4. Define the view’s Replication Method
  5. Save the view’s settings

Initial and historical replication jobs

After you finish setting up MariaDB, its Sync Status may show as Pending on either the Stitch Dashboard or in the Integration Details page.

For a new integration, a Pending status indicates that Stitch is in the process of scheduling the initial replication job for the integration. This may take some time to complete.

Free historical data loads

The first seven days of replication, beginning when data is first replicated, are free. Rows replicated from the new integration during this time won’t count towards your quota. Stitch offers this as a way of testing new integrations, measuring usage, and ensuring historical data volumes don’t quickly consume your quota.

MariaDB replication

In this section:

Extraction

For every table set to replicate, Stitch will perform the following during Extraction:

Discovery

During Discovery, Stitch will:

Determining table schemas

During this phase of Discovery, Stitch queries system tables to retrieve metadata about the objects the Stitch database user has access to. This metadata is used to determine which databases, tables, and columns to display in Stitch for replication.

Stitch runs the following queries on MariaDB databases to perform a structure sync:

  • SHOW DATABASES
  • SHOW TABLES FROM [database_name]
  • SHOW KEYS FROM [table_name]
  • SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
Data typing

Refer to the MariaDB data types documentation for more info about how MariaDB data is typed for selected columns.

Data replication

During data replication, Stitch will:

Column name transformations

To ensure column names are compatible with Avro, the integration will transform column names to adhere to Avro’s rules. In Avro, column names must:

  • Start with one of the following:
    • A-Z
    • a-z
    • _ (underscore)
  • Contain only the following:
    • Any characters in the list above (A-Z, _, etc)
    • 0-9

If a column name contains an unsupported character, the integration will replace it with an underscore (_).

Related Troubleshooting
Questions? Feedback?

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