MySQL

Monitor your MySQL databases by collecting metrics and logs using the OpenTelemetry Collector and sending them to Parseable.

Overview

The OpenTelemetry Collector's MySQL receiver collects metrics from MySQL and MariaDB databases including:

Server Statistics - Connections, queries, threads
InnoDB Metrics - Buffer pool, row operations, locks
Query Performance - Statement events, query samples
Replication Status - Slave lag and replication metrics

Prerequisites

MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+
OpenTelemetry Collector with mysql receiver
Parseable instance running and accessible

Database User Setup

Create a monitoring user with the required permissions:

-- Create monitoring user
CREATE USER 'otel'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'your-secure-password';

-- Grant required permissions
GRANT PROCESS, REPLICATION CLIENT ON *.* TO 'otel'@'%';
GRANT SELECT ON performance_schema.* TO 'otel'@'%';

-- Flush privileges
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

OpenTelemetry Collector Configuration

Basic Configuration

Create an otel-collector-config.yaml file:

receivers:
  mysql:
    endpoint: localhost:3306
    username: otel
    password: ${env:MYSQL_PASSWORD}
    database: mydb
    collection_interval: 10s

exporters:
  otlphttp/parseable:
    endpoint: "http://parseable:8000"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Basic YWRtaW46YWRtaW4="
      X-P-Stream: "mysql-metrics"
      X-P-Log-Source: "otel-metrics"
    tls:
      insecure: true

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [mysql]
      exporters: [otlphttp/parseable]

Advanced Configuration with Statement Events

For detailed query performance monitoring:

receivers:
  mysql:
    endpoint: localhost:3306
    username: otel
    password: ${env:MYSQL_PASSWORD}
    database: mydb
    collection_interval: 10s
    initial_delay: 1s
    statement_events:
      digest_text_limit: 120
      time_limit: 24h
      limit: 250
    tls:
      insecure: false
      insecure_skip_verify: false

exporters:
  otlphttp/parseable:
    endpoint: "http://parseable:8000"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Basic YWRtaW46YWRtaW4="
      X-P-Stream: "mysql-metrics"
      X-P-Log-Source: "otel-metrics"
    tls:
      insecure: true

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [mysql]
      exporters: [otlphttp/parseable]

Configuration Options

Parameter	Default	Description
`endpoint`	`localhost:3306`	MySQL server endpoint
`username`	`root`	Database username
`password`	-	Database password
`database`	-	Database name (empty = all databases)
`collection_interval`	`10s`	Metrics collection interval
`allow_native_passwords`	`true`	Allow native password authentication
`tls.insecure`	`false`	Disable TLS
`statement_events.limit`	`250`	Max statement events to collect

Collected Metrics

The MySQL receiver collects the following metrics:

Metric	Description
`mysql.buffer_pool.pages`	Buffer pool page counts
`mysql.buffer_pool.data_pages`	Buffer pool data pages
`mysql.buffer_pool.operations`	Buffer pool operations
`mysql.commands`	Command execution counts
`mysql.handlers`	Handler operation counts
`mysql.locks`	Lock wait counts
`mysql.sorts`	Sort operation counts
`mysql.threads`	Thread counts by state
`mysql.connections`	Connection counts
`mysql.queries`	Query execution counts
`mysql.statement_events.count`	Statement event counts
`mysql.statement_events.wait.time`	Statement wait times

Running the Collector

Docker

docker run -d \
  --name otel-collector \
  -v $(pwd)/otel-collector-config.yaml:/etc/otelcol/config.yaml \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=your-password \
  otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:latest

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'
services:
  otel-collector:
    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:latest
    volumes:
      - ./otel-collector-config.yaml:/etc/otelcol/config.yaml
    environment:
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
    depends_on:
      - mysql
      - parseable

Querying MySQL Metrics in Parseable

Once data is flowing, query your MySQL metrics:

-- Get thread counts over time
SELECT p_timestamp, threads_running, threads_connected 
FROM "mysql-metrics" 
ORDER BY p_timestamp DESC 
LIMIT 100

-- Find slow queries
SELECT digest_text, total_latency, exec_count
FROM "mysql-metrics"
WHERE p_timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '1 hour'
ORDER BY total_latency DESC
LIMIT 10

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

If the collector can't connect to MySQL:

Verify MySQL is accepting connections on the configured port
Check the user has proper permissions
Verify skip-networking is not enabled in MySQL config
Check firewall rules allow the connection

Missing Metrics

If some metrics are not appearing:

Ensure performance_schema is enabled
Verify the monitoring user has SELECT on performance_schema
Check InnoDB is the storage engine for InnoDB-specific metrics

Next Steps

Set up alerts for database performance thresholds
Create dashboards for MySQL monitoring
Explore SQL queries for custom analysis

MySQL

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