Install Percona Server for MySQL on DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS)¶

This guide shows you how to deploy Percona Operator for MySQL on DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS). The document assumes some experience with the platform. For more information on DOKS, see the DigitalOcean Kubernetes documentation .

Prerequisites¶

Prepare the following before you create a cluster:

Install doctl , the DigitalOcean command-line interface (CLI), to create and manage DOKS clusters.
Create a DigitalOcean personal access token so doctl can access your account. After you create the token, authenticate doctl:
```
doctl auth init
```
Install kubectl to manage Kubernetes resources.

Before you start¶

Check the System requirements to confirm your environment meets the prerequisites. Use a cluster with at least three nodes.

Create a DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster¶

Decide on the following details:
- Cluster name
- Region where you deploy the cluster
- Kubernetes version
- Node size and count for the node pool
Create the cluster in the DigitalOcean control panel, or with doctl:
```
doctl kubernetes cluster create <cluster-name> --region <region> --version <version> --size <node-size> --count 3
```
Replace the <cluster-name>, <region>, <version> and <node-size> placeholders with your values. Cluster creation takes several minutes.

For the full list of options, see How to create Kubernetes clusters .
Save the cluster credentials to your kubeconfig file so kubectl can connect:
```
doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save <cluster-name>
```
For more connection options, see How to connect to a DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster .

Install the Operator and deploy your MySQL cluster¶

Create a namespace and set it as the current context. Replace <namespace> with a descriptive name:

kubectl create namespace <namespace>
kubectl config set-context $(kubectl config current-context) --namespace=<namespace>

Expected output

namespace/<namespace> created
Context "<context>" modified.

Deploy the Operator:

kubectl apply --server-side -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/percona/percona-server-mysql-operator/v1.3.0/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

The Operator Pod is now running.

Deploy the Percona Server for MySQL cluster.

DOKS installs the DigitalOcean Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver and sets do-block-storage as the default StorageClass. The default cluster manifest uses that StorageClass. Set storageClassName only if you want a different volume type.
```
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/percona/percona-server-mysql-operator/v1.3.0/deploy/cr.yaml
```
Expected output
```
perconaservermysql.ps.percona.com/ps-cluster1 created
```

Check the cluster status. Creation takes several minutes:

kubectl get ps

Expected output

NAME          REPLICATION         ENDPOINT                          STATE   MYSQL   ORCHESTRATOR   HAPROXY   ROUTER   AGE
ps-cluster1   group-replication   ps-cluster1-haproxy.<namespace>   ready   3                                3        20m

When the STATE column shows ready, the cluster is running.

Verify the cluster operation¶

When kubectl get ps shows the cluster status as ready, connect to the cluster.

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:

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: 8.4.11-11.1 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>

Delete the DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster¶

To delete the cluster, run the following command:

doctl kubernetes cluster delete <cluster-name>

Cluster deletion takes several minutes.

Deleting the cluster leaves its load balancers, volumes, and volume snapshots in your DigitalOcean account. You can still pay for those resources until you delete them.

For more ways to delete a cluster, and for how to remove the associated load balancers, volumes, and volume snapshots, see How to destroy DigitalOcean Kubernetes clusters .

Warning

Deleting the cluster removes access to the database. Data on any volumes that remain is deleted only when you delete those volumes.

Last update: October 19, 2026
Created: October 19, 2026