Install Percona Server for MySQL on Minikube¶

Minikube lets you run a Kubernetes cluster locally without a cloud provider. It works on Linux, Windows, and macOS using a hypervisor like VirtualBox, KVM/QEMU, VMware Fusion, Hyper-V, or Docker. This makes it perfect for testing the Operator before deploying it in a cloud or in production

Prerequisites¶

Before you begin, you need to install Minikube on your system. The installation includes three components:

kubectl - the Kubernetes command-line tool
A hypervisor - if you don’t already have one installed
Minikube - the Minikube package itself

After installing Minikube, start it with increased resources to ensure the Operator runs smoothly:

minikube start --memory=4096 --cpus=3

This command downloads the necessary virtualized images, then initializes and starts your local Kubernetes cluster. The --memory=4096 and --cpus=3 parameters allocate more resources to the virtual machine, which helps the Operator run reliably.

Optional: Kubernetes Dashboard

You can optionally start the Kubernetes dashboard to visualize your cluster. Run:

minikube dashboard

This opens the dashboard in your default web browser, giving you a visual view of your cluster’s state.

Install the Operator¶

Clone the repository and navigate into it:

git clone -b v1.2.0 https://github.com/percona/percona-server-mysql-operator
cd percona-server-mysql-operator

Deploy the Operator to your Minikube cluster

kubectl apply--server-side -f deploy/bundle.yaml

Expected output

customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/perconaservermysqlbackups.ps.percona.com created
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/perconaservermysqlrestores.ps.percona.com created
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/perconaservermysqls.ps.percona.com created
serviceaccount/percona-server-mysql-operator created
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/percona-server-mysql-operator-leaderelection created
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/percona-server-mysql-operator created
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/percona-server-mysql-operator-leaderelection created
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/percona-server-mysql-operator created
configmap/percona-server-mysql-operator-config created
deployment.apps/percona-server-mysql-operator created

Configure and deploy your MySQL cluster¶

Since Minikube runs on a single node, the default configuration doesn’t fit. Use the minimal configuration adjusted for Minikube environment.

kubectl apply -f deploy/cr-minimal.yaml

Expected output

perconaservermysql.ps.percona.com/ps-cluster1 created

This creates a group-replication cluster with one Percona Server for MySQL instances and one HAProxy instance. For more configuration options, see the deploy/cr.yaml file and the Custom Resource Options reference.

Check the cluster status¶

The cluster creation process takes a few minutes. Monitor the status with:

kubectl get ps

Wait until the STATE column shows ready. This indicates your cluster is fully operational.

Expected output

NAME           REPLICATION         ENDPOINT                   STATE   MYSQL   ORCHESTRATOR   HAPROXY   ROUTER   AGE
ps-cluster1   group-replication    ps-cluster1-haproxy.default   ready   1                     1                  5m50s

Verify the cluster operation¶

It typically takes about ten minutes for the cluster to start. Once kubectl get ps shows the cluster status as ready, you can connect to it and start using your MySQL database.

To connect to Percona Server for MySQL, use the connection Secret that the Operator creates for the root user. It is named <cluster_name>-psuser-root (by default, ps-cluster1-psuser-root) and contains hostnames, ports, credentials, and ready-to-use connection URIs. Read Connection secrets for the full reference.

Here’s how to connect:

Export the namespace, cluster name and the Secret name as environment variables:
```
export NAMESPACE=my-namespace
export CLUSTER_NAME=ps-cluster1
export SECRET_NAME=${CLUSTER_NAME}-psuser-root
```
Replace ps-cluster1 with the name of your cluster if you changed it during installation.
List the Secrets objects.
```
$ kubectl get secrets -n $NAMESPACE
```
Look for the Secret named <cluster_name>-psuser-root. By default, it is ps-cluster1-psuser-root.
Retrieve the user credentials from the Secret:

bash kubectl get secret "$SECRET_NAME" -n "$NAMESPACE" \ -o jsonpath='{.data.user}' | base64 --decode && echo kubectl get secret "$SECRET_NAME" -n "$NAMESPACE" \ -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 --decode && echo
Run a container with the mysql tool and connect its console output to your terminal:
```
kubectl run -i --rm --tty percona-client --image=percona/percona-server:8.4 --restart=Never -- bash -il
```
It may require some time to execute the command and deploy the corresponding Pod.

Now run mysql tool in the percona-client command shell using the password obtained from the Secret instead of the <root password> placeholder. The command will look different depending on whether the cluster uses load balancing with HAProxy (the default behavior) or uses MySQL Router (can be used with Group Replication clusters):

If using HAProxy (default)If using MySQL Router

mysql -h ps-cluster1-haproxy -uroot -p<root password>

mysql -h ps-cluster1-router -uroot -p<root password>

Expected output

mysql: [Warning] Using a password on the command line interface can be insecure.
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1665
Server version: 8.4.10-10.1 Percona Server (GPL), Release 6, Revision dbba4396

Copyright (c) 2009-2026 Percona LLC and/or its affiliates
Copyright (c) 2000, 2026, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql>

The following example uses the MySQL prompt to check the max_connections variable:

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "max_connections";

Expected output

+-----------------+-------+
| Variable_name   | Value |
+-----------------+-------+
| max_connections | 158   |
+-----------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.02 sec)

mysql>

Last update: November 12, 2025
Created: September 19, 2022