---
keywords: [migrate from MySQL, create databases, write data, export data, import data]
description: Step-by-step guide on migrating from MySQL to GreptimeDB, including creating databases, writing data, exporting and importing data.
---

# Migrate from MySQL

This document will guide you through the migration process from MySQL to GreptimeDB.

## Before you start the migration

Please be aware that though GreptimeDB supports the wire protocol of MySQL, it does not mean GreptimeDB implements all
MySQL's features. You may refer to:
* The [ANSI Compatibility](/reference/sql/compatibility.md) to see the constraints regarding using SQL in GreptimeDB.
* The [Data Modeling Guide](/user-guide/deployments-administration/performance-tuning/design-table.md) to create proper table schemas.
* The [Data Index Guide](/user-guide/manage-data/data-index.md) for index planning.

## Migration steps

### Create the databases and tables in GreptimeDB

Before migrating the data from MySQL, you first need to create the corresponding databases and tables in GreptimeDB.
GreptimeDB has its own SQL syntax for creating tables, so you cannot directly reuse the table creation SQLs that are produced
by MySQL.

When you write the table creation SQL for GreptimeDB, it's important to understand
its "[data model](/user-guide/concepts/data-model.md)" first. Then, please take the following considerations in
your create table SQL:

1. Since the time index column cannot be changed after the table is created, you need to choose the time index column
   carefully. The time index is best set to the natural timestamp when the data is generated, as it provides the most
   intuitive way to query the data, and the best query performance. For example, in the IOT scenes, you can use the
   collection time of sensor data as the time index; or the occurrence time of an event in the observability scenes.
2. In this migration process, it's not recommend to create another synthetic timestamp, such as a new column created
   with `DEFAULT current_timestamp()` as the time index column. It's not recommend to use the random timestamp as the
   time index either.
3. It's vital to set the most fit timestamp precision for your time index column, too. Like the chosen of time index
   column, the precision of it cannot be changed as well. Find the most fit timestamp type for your
   data set [here](/reference/sql/data-types#data-types-compatible-with-mysql-and-postgresql).
4. Choose a primary key only when it is truly needed. The primary key in GreptimeDB is different from that in MySQL. You should use a primary key only when:
    * Most queries can benefit from the ordering.
    * You need to deduplicate (including delete) rows by the primary key and time index.

    Otherwise, setting a primary key is optional and it may hurt performance. Read [Primary Key](/user-guide/deployments-administration/performance-tuning/design-table.md#primary-key) for details.
    
    Finally please refer to "[CREATE](/reference/sql/create.md)" SQL document for more details for choosing the
right data types and "ttl" or "compaction" options, etc.
5. Choose proper indexes to speed up queries.
    * Inverted index: is ideal for filtering by low-cardinality columns and quickly finding rows with specific values.
    * Skipping index: works well with sparse data.
    * Fulltext index: enables efficient keyword and pattern search in large text columns.

    For details and best practices, refer to the [data index](user-guide/manage-data/data-index.md) documentation.
### Write data to both GreptimeDB and MySQL simultaneously

Writing data to both GreptimeDB and MySQL simultaneously is a practical strategy to avoid data loss during migration. By
utilizing MySQL's client libraries (JDBC + a MySQL driver), you can set up two client instances - one for GreptimeDB
and another for MySQL. For guidance on writing data to GreptimeDB using SQL, please refer to the [Ingest Data](/user-guide/ingest-data/for-iot/sql.md) section.

If retaining all historical data isn't necessary, you can simultaneously write data to both GreptimeDB and MySQL for a
specific period to accumulate the required recent data. Subsequently, cease writing to MySQL and continue exclusively
with GreptimeDB. If a complete migration of all historical data is needed, please proceed with the following steps.

### Export data from MySQL

[mysqldump](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/mysqldump.html) is a commonly used tool to export data from MySQL.
Using it, we can export the data that can be later imported into GreptimeDB directly. For example, if we want to export
two databases, `db1` and `db2` from MySQL, we can use the following command:

```bash
mysqldump -h127.0.0.1 -P3306 -umysql_user -p --compact -cnt --skip-extended-insert --databases db1 db2 > /path/to/output.sql
```

Replace the `-h`, `-P` and `-u` flags with the appropriate values for your MySQL server. The `--databases` flag is used
to specify the databases to be exported. The output will be written to the `/path/to/output.sql` file.

The content in the `/path/to/output.sql` file should be like this:

```plaintext
~ ❯ cat /path/to/output.sql

USE `db1`;
INSERT INTO `foo` (`ts`, `a`, `b`) VALUES (1,'hello',1);
INSERT INTO ...

USE `db2`;
INSERT INTO `foo` (`ts`, `a`, `b`) VALUES (2,'greptime',2);
INSERT INTO ...
```

### Import data into GreptimeDB

The [MySQL Command-Line Client](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/mysql.html) can be used to import data into
GreptimeDB. Continuing the above example, say the data is exported to file `/path/to/output.sql`, then we can use the
following command to import the data into GreptimeDB:

```bash
mysql -h127.0.0.1 -P4002 -ugreptime_user -p -e "source /path/to/output.sql"
```

Replace the `-h`, `-P` and `-u` flags with the appropriate values for your GreptimeDB server. The `source` command is
used to execute the SQL commands in the `/path/to/output.sql` file. Add `-vvv` to see the detailed execution results for
debugging purpose.

To summarize, data migration steps can be illustrate as follows:

![migrate mysql data steps](/migration-mysql.jpg)

After the data migration is completed, you can stop writing data to MySQL and continue using GreptimeDB exclusively!

If you need a more detailed migration plan or example scripts, please provide the specific table structure and data volume. The [GreptimeDB official community](https://github.com/orgs/GreptimeTeam/discussions) will offer further support. Welcome to join the [Greptime Slack](http://greptime.com/slack).