📖 Help & FAQ

How to safely collect diagnostic information for MySQL Advisor

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FAQ — Collecting MySQL Diagnostic Data

All commands below are read-only unless explicitly stated. Safe to run on production systems.

✅ No writes  ·  No locks  ·  No performance impact

Supported Technologies

⚡ Quick Checklist

□ pt-summary
□ pt-mysql-summary
□ SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES
□ SHOW GLOBAL STATUS
□ Read-only MySQL user
1

Collect pt-summary — server-level info

OS access Safe

pt-summary collects OS, hardware, kernel, and MySQL runtime metadata. It does not modify the system and is safe for production environments. 

wget https://www.percona.com/get/pt-summary
chmod +x pt-summary
./pt-summary > server_name_$(date +%d%m%y)_pt-summary.txt
  • Does not modify the system
  • Safe for production
  • Requires OS (shell) access to the server
2

Collect pt-mysql-summary — MySQL config & schema

OS access Read-only

pt-mysql-summary collects MySQL version, configuration variables, storage engines, and schema & index metadata using standard SQL queries only. 

wget https://www.percona.com/get/pt-mysql-summary
chmod +x pt-mysql-summary
./pt-mysql-summary --user=advisor --password --host=localhost \
  > server_name_$(date +%d%m%y)_pt-mysql-summary.txt
  • Read-only — uses SELECT queries only
  • Safe for production
  • Replace advisor with your read-only username
3

Collect SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES

SQL Read-only

Exports all MySQL server configuration variables to a file. This is required for the core analysis. 

mysql -u advisor -p -e "SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES" \
  > server_name_$(date +%d%m%y)_global_variables.txt
  • Paste the output into the SHOW VARIABLES tab in MySQL Advisor
  • Or use the Collect data from MySQL panel to fetch it automatically
4

Collect SHOW GLOBAL STATUS

SQL Read-only

Exports runtime status counters — connections, InnoDB metrics, query cache hits, replication lag, etc. Run during normal workload hours for the most accurate analysis. 

mysql -u advisor -p -e "SHOW GLOBAL STATUS" \
  > server_name_$(date +%d%m%y)_global_status.txt
  • Paste into the SHOW GLOBAL STATUS tab in MySQL Advisor
  • Or use the Collect data from MySQL panel to fetch it automatically
5

Create a read-only MySQL user

SQL

Create a dedicated, minimal-privilege user for analysis. No INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or DDL permissions are granted. 

CREATE USER 'advisor'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPasswordHere';

-- Core privileges
GRANT SELECT, PROCESS, SHOW VIEW ON *.* TO 'advisor'@'%';

-- Optional: replication visibility
GRANT REPLICATION CLIENT ON *.* TO 'advisor'@'%';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Privilege Purpose
SELECT Read metadata and configuration tables
PROCESS View the process list for active queries
SHOW VIEW Inspect view definitions
REPLICATION CLIENT Check replication status (optional)
6

Files to upload to MySQL Advisor

Upload or paste the following files into their respective tabs in MySQL Advisor.

📄 *_pt-summary.txt optional
📄 *_pt-mysql-summary.txt optional
📄 *_global_variables.txt required
📄 *_global_status.txt required
7

Security & Privacy Notes

  • No table data or row contents are collected
  • No passwords appear in any output files
  • Hostnames, IPs, and file paths may appear — review before sharing if required
  • MySQL Advisor processes data server-side and never stores it
  • No external network calls are made during analysis

⚠ Before sharing output files

  • Review files for any IP addresses or hostnames you consider sensitive
  • Schema names and table names may appear in pt-mysql-summary
  • Redact as needed before uploading to a shared environment
💡

Run these commands during normal workload hours for the most accurate analysis.