To familiarize you with the basics, we will describe the simplest possible configuration for a functional MySQL Cluster. After this, you should be able to design your desired setup from the information provided in the other relevant sections of this chapter.

First, you need to create a configuration directory such as /var/lib/mysql-cluster, by executing the following command as the system root user:

shell> mkdir /var/lib/mysql-cluster

In this directory, create a file named config.ini that contains the following information. Substitute appropriate values for HostName and DataDir as necessary for your system.

# file "config.ini" - showing minimal setup consisting of 1 data node,
# 1 management server, and 3 MySQL servers.
# The empty default sections are not required, and are shown only for
# the sake of completeness.
# Data nodes must provide a hostname but MySQL Servers are not required
# to do so.
# If you don't know the hostname for your machine, use localhost.
# The DataDir parameter also has a default value, but it is recommended to
# set it explicitly.
# Note: DB, API, and MGM are aliases for NDBD, MYSQLD, and NDB_MGMD
# respectively. DB and API are deprecated and should not be used in new
# installations.
[NDBD DEFAULT]
NoOfReplicas= 1

[MYSQLD DEFAULT]
[NDB_MGMD DEFAULT]
[TCP DEFAULT]

[NDB_MGMD]
HostName= myhost.example.com

[NDBD]
HostName= myhost.example.com
DataDir= /var/lib/mysql-cluster

[MYSQLD]
[MYSQLD]
[MYSQLD]

You can now start the ndb_mgmd management server. By default, it atttempts to read the config.ini file in its current working directory, so change location into the directory where the file is located and then invoke ndb_mgmd:

shell> cd /var/lib/mysql-cluster
shell> ndb_mgmd

Then start a single DB node by running ndbd. When starting ndbd for a given DB node for the very first time, you should use the --initial option as shown here:

shell> ndbd --initial

For subsequent ndbd starts, you will generally want to omit the --initial option:

shell> ndbd

The reason for omitting --initial on subsequent restarts is that this option causes ndbd to delete and re-create all existing data and log files (as well as all table metadata) for this data node. One exception to this rule about not using --initial except for the first ndbd invocation is that you use it when restarting the cluster and restoring from backup after adding new data nodes.

By default, ndbd looks for the management server at localhost on port 1186.

Note: If you have installed MySQL from a binary tarball, you will need to specify the path of the ndb_mgmd and ndbd servers explicitly. (Normally, these will be found in /usr/local/mysql/bin.)

Finally, change location to the MySQL data directory (usually /var/lib/mysql or /usr/local/mysql/data), and make sure that the my.cnf file contains the option necessary to enable the NDB storage engine:

[mysqld]
ndbcluster

You can now start the MySQL server as usual:

shell> mysqld_safe --user=mysql &

Wait a moment to make sure the MySQL server is running properly. If you see the notice mysql ended, check the server's .err file to find out what went wrong.

If all has gone well so far, you now can start using the cluster. Connect to the server and verify that the NDBCLUSTER storage engine is enabled:

shell> mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 5.1.7-beta-Max

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> SHOW ENGINES\G
...
*************************** 12. row ***************************
Engine: NDBCLUSTER
Support: YES
Comment: Clustered, fault-tolerant, memory-based tables
*************************** 13. row ***************************
Engine: NDB
Support: YES
Comment: Alias for NDBCLUSTER
...

The row numbers shown in the preceding example output may be different from those shown on your system, depending upon how your server is configured.

Try to create an NDBCLUSTER table:

shell> mysql
mysql> USE test;
Database changed

mysql> CREATE TABLE ctest (i INT) ENGINE=NDBCLUSTER;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.09 sec)

mysql> SHOW CREATE TABLE ctest \G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
       Table: ctest
Create Table: CREATE TABLE `ctest` (
  `i` int(11) default NULL
) ENGINE=ndbcluster DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

To check that your nodes were set up properly, start the management client:

shell> ndb_mgm

Use the SHOW command from within the management client to obtain a report on the cluster's status:

NDB> SHOW
Cluster Configuration
---------------------
[ndbd(NDB)]     1 node(s)
id=2    @127.0.0.1  (Version: 3.5.3, Nodegroup: 0, Master)

[ndb_mgmd(MGM)] 1 node(s)
id=1    @127.0.0.1  (Version: 3.5.3)

[mysqld(API)]   3 node(s)
id=3    @127.0.0.1  (Version: 3.5.3)
id=4 (not connected, accepting connect from any host)
id=5 (not connected, accepting connect from any host)

At this point, you have successfully set up a working MySQL Cluster. You can now store data in the cluster by using any table created with ENGINE=NDBCLUSTER or its alias ENGINE=NDB.