MySQL backup prerequisites

Before creating MySQL backups:

1. Enable Backup Management and confirm the Backup option is available on the side menu. If Backup Management is disabled, go to Configuration > Settings > Advanced settings, enable Backup Management, and click Apply changes.

   Important

   If PMM Server runs as a Docker container, enable backup features at container creation time by adding -e ENABLE_BACKUP_MANAGEMENT=1 to your docker run command.

2. Install and run the PMM Client on the node.

3. To enable XtraBackup for MySQL 8.0+, connect pmm-agent to MySQL using a user with the BACKUP_ADMIN privilege.

4. Run only one MySQL instance on the node.

5. Verify that MySQL is running:

   • as a service via systemd
   • with the name mysql or mysqld (run systemctl status mysql or systemctl status mysqld to confirm)
   • from a mysql system user account

6. Verify that a mysql system group exists.

7. Verify that MySQL uses /var/lib/mysql for database storage.

8. Grant pmm-agent read/write permissions to /var/lib/mysql.

9. Install the latest versions of the following packages and add them to $PATH. For XtraBackup version requirements, see XtraBackup and MySQL version compatibility:

   • xtrabackup (includes xbcloud and xbstream)
   • [qpress][PERCONA_QPRESS]

XtraBackup and MySQL version compatibility

When installing xtrabackup, use a version of Percona XtraBackup (PXB) that matches your MySQL version:

• MySQL 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 — PXB 2.4.x
• MySQL 8.0.0–8.0.33 — PXB 8.0.x (same version or newer)
• MySQL 8.0.34+ — PXB 8.0.34+
• MySQL 8.1.x, 8.2.x, 8.3.x — matching PXB version (supports only the matching MySQL Innovation release)
• MySQL 8.4.x — any PXB 8.4.x release (supports MySQL 8.4 LTS, including future patch releases; does not support MySQL 8.0 or 9.x)