mysql/mysql-operator

MySQL Operator for Kubernetes

Copyright (c) 2020, 2026, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

This is a release of MySQL Operator for Kubernetes.

License information can be found in the LICENSE file. This distribution may include materials developed by third parties. For license and attribution notices for these materials, please refer to the LICENSE file.

For more information on MySQL Operator for Kubernetes visit https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-operator/en/ For additional downloads and the source of MySQL Operator for Kubernetes visit https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/operator/

Contributing information for code and non-code submissions can be found in the CONTRIBUTING file.

MySQL Operator for Kubernetes is brought to you by the MySQL team at Oracle.

Introduction

The MySQL Operator for Kubernetes is an operator for managing MySQL InnoDB Cluster setups inside a Kubernetes Cluster. It manages the full lifecycle with set up and maintenance that includes automating upgrades and backup.

MySQL Operator for Kubernetes is brought to you by the MySQL team at Oracle.

Issues and Pull Requests

As with all MySQL projects, issues (including bugs and feature requests) are tracked here:

• https://bugs.mysql.com/

Pull requests submitted via github are also tracked at bugs.mysql.com; see CONTRIBUTING for related information.

MySQL Operator for Kubernetes Installation

Using Manifest Files with kubectl

First deploy the Custom Resource Definition (CRDs):

$> kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mysql/mysql-operator/26.7.0-2.3.0/deploy/deploy-crds.yaml

Then deploy MySQL Operator for Kubernetes:

$> kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mysql/mysql-operator/26.7.0-2.3.0/deploy/deploy-operator.yaml

Verify the operator is running by checking the deployment inside the mysql-operator namespace:

$> kubectl get deployment -n mysql-operator mysql-operator

NAME             READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
mysql-operator   1/1     1            1           1h

Using Helm

Alternatively, you may use Helm; which is a package manager for Kubernetes.

Install the Helm repository:

$> helm repo add mysql-operator https://mysql.github.io/mysql-operator/
$> helm repo update

Then deploy the operator using the just added repository:

$> helm install mysql-operator mysql-operator/mysql-operator --namespace mysql-operator --create-namespace

This deploys the latest MySQL Operator for Kubernetes from DockerHub using all defaults; although the deployment can be customized through a variety of options to override built-in defaults. The name of the deployment is mysql-operator. See the documentation for details.

In this release, operator topology is frozen after the initial topology has been persisted on first startup. A global operator blocks every other operator install, scoped operators must keep a disjoint deployment.namespaces set, and later manual or raw-manifest topology changes are rejected on operator startup. Choose deployment.namespaces and deployment.standalone up front; changing them after bootstrap requires removing the operator and reinstalling it with the desired scope.

MySQL InnoDB Cluster Installation

Using kubectl

For creating a MySQL InnoDB Cluster, first create a secret with credentials for a MySQL root user used to perform administrative tasks in the cluster. For example:

$> kubectl create secret generic mypwds \
        --from-literal=rootUser=root \
        --from-literal=rootHost=% \
        --from-literal=rootPassword="sakila"

Define your MySQL InnoDB Cluster, which references the secret. For example:

apiVersion: mysql.oracle.com/v2
kind: InnoDBCluster
metadata:
  name: mycluster
spec:
  secretName: mypwds
  tlsUseSelfSigned: true
  instances: 3
  router:
    instances: 1

Assuming it's saved as mycluster.yaml, deploy it:

$> kubectl apply -f mycluster.yaml

This sample creates an InnoDB Cluster with three MySQL Server instances and one MySQL Router instance. The process can be observed using:

$> kubectl get innodbcluster --watch

NAME          STATUS    ONLINE   INSTANCES   ROUTERS   AGE
mycluster     PENDING   0        3           1         2m6s
...
mycluster     ONLINE    3        3           1         10s

Using Helm

Create MySQL InnoDB Cluster installations using defaults or with customization. Here's an example using all defaults for a cluster named mycluster:

$> helm install mycluster mysql-operator/mysql-innodbcluster

Or customize, this example sets options from the command line:

$> helm install mycluster mysql-operator/mysql-innodbcluster \
        --namespace mynamespace \
        --create-namespace \
        --set credentials.root.user='root' \
        --set credentials.root.password='supersecret' \
        --set credentials.root.host='%' \
        --set serverInstances=3 \
        --set routerInstances=1

Connecting to MySQL InnoDB Cluster

A MySQL InnoDB Cluster Service is created inside the Kubernetes cluster:

$> kubectl get service mycluster

NAME        TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                                                           AGE
mycluster   ClusterIP   10.110.228.51   <none>        3306/TCP,33060/TCP,6446/TCP,6448/TCP,6447/TCP,6449/TCP,6450/TCP   26h

The ports represent read-write and read-only ports for the MySQL Protocol and the X Protocol. Use describe or see the documentation for additional information.

Using MySQL Shell

This example creates a new container named myshell using the container-registry.oracle.com/mysql/community-operator image, and immediately executes MySQL Shell:

$> kubectl run --rm -it myshell --image=container-registry.oracle.com/mysql/community-operator -- mysqlsh
If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

MySQL JS>  \connect root@mycluster

Creating a session to 'root@mycluster'
Please provide the password for 'root@mycluster': ******

MySQL mycluster JS>

Using root@mycluster connection assumes the default namespace is used; the long form is {innodbclustername}.{namespace}.svc.cluster.local. Each MySQL instance has MySQL Shell installed that can be used when troubleshooting.

Using Port Forwarding

Kubernetes port forwarding creates a redirection from your local machine to use a MySQL client, such as mysql or MySQL Workbench. For example, for read-write connection to the primary using the MySQL protocol:

$> kubectl port-forward service/mycluster mysql

Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:3306 -> 6446
Forwarding from [::1]:3306 -> 6446

And in a second terminal:

$> mysql -h127.0.0.1 -P3306 -uroot -p

Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
...

When prompted, enter the password used when creating the Secret.

More Information

Refer to the official documentation at:

• https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-operator/en/

For additional downloads and the source code, visit:

• https://dev.mysql.com/downloads
• https://github.com/mysql/mysql-operator

Contributing to MySQL Operator for Kubernetes, see:

• See CONTRIBUTING