Semisynchronous replication is implemented using plugins, so the plugins must be installed into the server to make them available. After a plugin has been installed, you control it by means of the system variables associated with it. These system variables are unavailable until the associated plugin has been installed.

To use semisynchronous replication, the following requirements must be satisfied:

To set up semisynchronous replication, use the following instructions. The INSTALL PLUGIN, SET GLOBAL, STOP SLAVE, and START SLAVE statements mentioned here require the SUPER privilege.

The semisynchronous replication plugins are included with MySQL distributions. Currently, the plugins are available only for Linux. Other platforms are is not yet supported.

Unpack the component distribution, which contains files for the master side and the slave side.

Install the component files in the plugin directory of the appropriate server. Install the semisync_master* files in the plugin directory of the master server. Install the semisync_slave* files in the plugin directory of each slave server. The location of the plugin directory is available as the value of the server's plugin_dir system variable.

To load the plugins, use the INSTALL PLUGIN statement on the master and on each slave that is to be semisynchronous.

On the master:

mysql> INSTALL PLUGIN rpl_semi_sync_master SONAME 'semisync_master.so';

On each slave:

mysql> INSTALL PLUGIN rpl_semi_sync_slave SONAME 'semisync_slave.so';

The preceding commands use a plugin file name suffix of .so. A different suffix might apply on your system. If you are not sure about the plugin file name, look for the plugins in the server's plugin directory.

If an attempt to install a plugin results in an error on Linux similar to that shown here, you will need to install libimf:

mysql> INSTALL PLUGIN rpl_semi_sync_master SONAME 'semisync_master.so';
ERROR 1126 (HY000): Can't open shared library
'/usr/local/mysql/lib/plugin/semisync_master.so' (errno: 22 libimf.so: cannot open
shared object file: No such file or directory)

You can obtain libimf from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/os-linux.html.

To see which plugins are installed, use the SHOW PLUGINS statement, or query the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.PLUGINS table.

After a semisynchronous replication plugin has been installed, it is enabled by default. The plugins must be enabled both on the master side and the slave side to enable semisynchronous replication. If only one side is enabled, replication will be asynchronous.

To control an installed plugin, set the appropriate system variables. You can set these variables at runtime using SET GLOBAL, or at server startup on the command line or in an option file.

At runtime, these master-side system variables are available:

mysql> SET GLOBAL rpl_semi_sync_master_enabled = {0|1};
mysql> SET GLOBAL rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = N;

On the slave side, this system variable is available:

mysql> SET GLOBAL rpl_semi_sync_slave_enabled = {0|1};

For rpl_semi_sync_master_enabled or rpl_semi_sync_slave_enabled, the value should be 1 to enable semisynchronous replication or 0 to disable it. By default, these variables are set to 1.

For rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout, the value N is given in seconds. The default value is 10.

If you enable semisynchronous replication on a slave at runtime, you must also start the slave I/O thread (stopping it first if it is already running) to cause the slave to connect to the master and register as a semisynchronous slave:

mysql> STOP SLAVE IO_THREAD; START SLAVE IO_THREAD;

If the I/O thread is already running and you do not restart it, the slave continues to use asynchronous replication.

At server startup, the variables that control semisynchronous replication can be set as command-line options or in an option file. A setting listed in an option file takes effect each time the server starts. For example, you can set the variables in my.cnf files on the master and slave sides as follows.

On the master:

[mysqld]
rpl_semi_sync_master_enabled=1
rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout=10

On each slave:

[mysqld]
rpl_semi_sync_slave_enabled=1