Cloud SQL for MySQL features

MySQL   |  PostgreSQL   |  SQL Server

This page describes the major features and capabilities of Cloud SQL for MySQL. Cloud SQL is also available for PostgreSQL and SQL Server.

Note: For information about the supported versions of database engines, see Database versions and version policies.

MySQL features by Cloud SQL editions

For more information about the features for the Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition and Cloud SQL Enterprise edition of Cloud SQL for MySQL, see Introduction to Cloud SQL editions.

General MySQL features supported for Cloud SQL

• Fully managed MySQL Community Edition databases in the cloud.
• Instances available in the Americas, EU, Asia, and Australia. See all locations where you can create Cloud SQL instances.
• Supports migration from source databases to Cloud SQL destination databases using Database Migration Service (DMS).
• Customer data encrypted on Google's internal networks and in database tables, temporary files, and backups.
• Support for secure external connections with the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy or with the SSL/TLS protocol.
• Support for private IP (private services access).
• Data replication between multiple zones with automatic failover.
• Import and export databases using mysqldump, or import and export CSV files.
• Support for MySQL wire protocol and standard MySQL connectors.
• Automated backups, on-demand backups, and point-in-time recovery.
• Instance cloning.
• Integration with Google Cloud Observability logging and monitoring.
• ISO/IEC 27001 compliant.

Application languages supported for Cloud SQL for MySQL

You can use Cloud SQL with App Engine applications running in the flexible environment that are written in:

• C#
• Go
• Java
• Node.js
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby

You can also use Cloud SQL with external applications that use the standard MySQL protocol.

How you can connect to Cloud SQL for MySQL instances

You can connect to a Cloud SQL instance from the following:

• A mysql client
• Third-party tools like SQL Workbench or Toad for MySQL
• External applications
• App Engine applications
• Applications running on Compute Engine
• Applications running on Google Kubernetes Engine
• Cloud Run functions
• Cloud Run
• Google Apps Script scripts

Connecting to Cloud SQL with Private Google Access isn't supported. Private services access is supported. For more information, see Private Access Options for Services.

User management in Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0

Due to changes in MySQL 8.0, you can't use CREATE or DELETE statements for MySQL user management. You also can't modify user privileges using INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements. Instead, use CREATE USER, DROP USER, GRANT, and REVOKE statements to modify user privileges. For more information, see Account management notes.

Note: Disregard information under Account management notes about running mysql_upgrade to upgrade to version 8.0. Instead, upgrade using the procedure in Upgrading MySQL on an instance.

Differences between standard MySQL and Cloud SQL for MySQL

In general, the MySQL functionality provided by a Cloud SQL instance is the same as the functionality provided by a locally-hosted MySQL instance. However, there are a few differences between a standard MySQL instance and a Cloud SQL instance.

MySQL features unsupported for Cloud SQL

• Federated Engine
• Memory Storage Engine

The following feature is unsupported for Cloud SQL for MySQL 5.6 and 5.7:

• The SUPER privilege
  Note: Because Cloud SQL is a managed service, it restricts access to certain system procedures and tables that require advanced privileges.

The following features are unsupported for Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0:

• FIPS mode
• Resource groups

The following feature is unsupported for Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4:

• Tagged GTIDs. For more information about tagged GTIDs, see "MySQL Replication: tagged GTIDs" in the Features Added or Changed in MySQL 8.4 section of the MySQL 8.4 release notes.

In addition, Cloud SQL for MySQL doesn't grant the following privileges introduced in MySQL 8.4:

• TRANSACTION_GTID_TAG
• TELEMETRY_LOG_ADMIN

MySQL plugins unsupported for Cloud SQL

• InnoDB memcached plugin
• X plugin
• Clone plugin
• InnoDB data-at-rest encryption
• validate_password component

MySQL statements unsupported for Cloud SQL

The following SQL statements generate an error with the Error 1290: The MySQL server is running with the Google option so it cannot execute this statement message:

• LOAD DATA INFILE

  Note: LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE is supported.

• SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE

• SELECT ... INTO DUMPFILE

• INSTALL PLUGIN ...

• UNINSTALL PLUGIN

• CREATE FUNCTION ... SONAME ...

The following statements aren't supported because MySQL instances use GTID replication:

• CREATE TABLE ... SELECT statements
• Transactions or statements that update both transactional and nontransactional tables

The following MySQL statement is unsupported for Cloud SQL for MySQL 5.6 and 5.7, but is supported for Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0:

• CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE statements inside transactions

For more information, see the MySQL documentation.

MySQL functions unsupported for Cloud SQL

• LOAD_FILE()

MySQL client program features unsupported for Cloud SQL

• mysqldump using the --tab option or options that are used with --tab. This is because the FILE privilege isn't granted for instance users. All other mysqldump options are supported. For information on using mysqldump options that optimize your file for importing into Cloud SQL, see Export from your local MySQL server using mysqldump.

• mysqlimport without using the --local option. This is because of the LOAD DATA INFILE restriction. To import data into your Cloud SQL instance, see importing using a dump file or importing using a CSV file.

• If you want to import databases with binary data into your Cloud SQL instance, you must use the --hex-blob option with mysqldump.

  Although hex-blob isn't a required flag when you're using a local MySQL server instance and the mysql client, it's required if you want to import any databases with binary data into your Cloud SQL instance. To import data into your Cloud SQL instance, see importing using a dump file or importing using a CSV file.

• Not all MySQL options and parameters are enabled for editing as Cloud SQL flags.

  To request the addition of a configurable Cloud SQL flag, use the Cloud SQL Discussion group.

• InnoDB is the only supported storage engine. For help with converting tables from MyISAM to InnoDB, see Converting table to InnoDB in the MySQL documentation.

MySQL options preset for Cloud SQL

Cloud SQL runs MySQL with a specific set of options. If an option might impact how your applications work, we note it here for your information.

skip-name-resolve

This flag impacts how hostnames are resolved for client connections. See skip-name-resolve in the MySQL documentation.

log_bin

This flag reports whether binary logging is enabled. If the --log-bin option is used, then the value of this variable is ON; otherwise it's OFF. See log_bin in the MySQL documentation.

MySQL authentication

This section describes the changes made to MySQL built-in authentication.

MySQL 8.0 authentication plugin default

Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 uses mysql_native_password as the default authentication plugin for new users instead of caching_sha2_password. The mysql_native_password plugin is the default for MySQL 5.6 and 5.7 users.

If you want new users to use the caching_sha2_password plugin as the default authentication, you can configure your instance flag for default_authentication_plugin to use caching_sha2_password.

To configure existing users to use caching_sha2_password, use the ALTER USER command to change the authentication plugin.

Users that have caching_sha2_password authentication might need to use the get-server-public-key flag when connecting. For details, see Caching SHA-2 Pluggable Authentication in the MySQL documentation.

MySQL 8.4 authentication plugin default

Starting in Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4, the caching_sha2_password plugin is the default authentication plugin. All internal users and new user accounts that you create use the caching_sha2_password plugin for authentication. Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4 continues to support existing Cloud SQL user accounts that use the mysql_native_password plugin. These existing accounts can continue to connect to Cloud SQL for MySQL instances after those instances have been upgraded MySQL 8.4.

Important: Either before or immediately after you upgrade to Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4, you must update the authentication plugin for your existing database user accounts to use the caching_sha2_password authentication plugin instead of the mysql_native_password plugin.

In Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4, the mysql_native_password authentication plugin is deprecated. Any attempt to create a new user account with the deprecated mysql_native_password authentication plugin results in an error. You can't set the authentication_policy of an account in Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.4 to use mysql_native_password.

To change your existing database user accounts to use the caching_sha2_password authentication plugin, use the following command:

ALTER USER 'username'@'%'
IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'user_password';

Replace username and user_password with the values for the user account that you are updating.

For more information about the implications of this change on the compatibility between servers, clients, and connectors, see caching_sha2_password as the Preferred Authentication Plugin.

Changes to MySQL system flags in Cloud SQL

For some MySQL system flags, Cloud SQL uses values that differ from the default values. You can't change the values for these flags. For a list of flags, see System flags changed in Cloud SQL.

Cloud SQL features unsupported in Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 and later versions

Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 and later versions don't support the legacy Cloud SQL for MySQL high availability (HA) configuration that uses failover replicas. Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 and later versions only support the regional HA configuration.