Upgrade Compatibility Checking

The inno compat subcommand analyzes InnoDB tablespace files to determine whether they are compatible with a target MySQL version. This is useful when planning MySQL version upgrades, especially across major versions (e.g., 5.7 to 8.0, or 8.0 to 9.0).

Quick Start

Check a single tablespace against MySQL 8.4:

inno compat -f /var/lib/mysql/mydb/users.ibd -t 8.4.0

Scan an entire data directory:

inno compat --scan /var/lib/mysql -t 9.0.0

What Gets Checked

Severity Levels

• Error: The tablespace cannot be used with the target version. Migration or conversion is required.
• Warning: The tablespace will work but uses deprecated features. Plan for future migration.
• Info: Informational finding, no action required.

Single-File Mode

Analyze one tablespace in detail:

inno compat -f table.ibd -t 8.4.0 -v

The -v (verbose) flag shows current and expected values for each check. JSON output is available with --json:

inno compat -f table.ibd -t 8.4.0 --json

Example JSON output:

{
  "file": "table.ibd",
  "target_version": "8.4.0",
  "source_version": "8.0.32",
  "compatible": true,
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "vendor",
      "message": "MySQL tablespace detected",
      "severity": "info"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total_checks": 1,
    "errors": 0,
    "warnings": 0,
    "info": 1
  }
}

Directory Scan Mode

Scan all .ibd files under a data directory:

inno compat --scan /var/lib/mysql -t 9.0.0

The scan uses parallel processing for fast analysis of large data directories. Add --depth 0 for unlimited recursion, or --depth 3 to limit traversal depth.

With --json, the output includes per-file results and aggregate counts:

inno compat --scan /var/lib/mysql -t 9.0.0 --json

Common Upgrade Scenarios

MySQL 5.7 to 8.0

Key checks:

• SDI metadata is required (added in 8.0). Pre-8.0 tablespaces will report an SDI error.
• Encryption support is available but the format changed.

MySQL 8.0 to 8.4

Key checks:

• ROW_FORMAT=COMPRESSED is deprecated. Tables using it will get a warning.
• All other formats (DYNAMIC, COMPACT) remain fully supported.

MySQL 8.x to 9.0

Key checks:

• ROW_FORMAT=REDUNDANT is deprecated in 9.0+.
• ROW_FORMAT=COMPRESSED deprecation continues from 8.4.

MariaDB to MySQL

MariaDB tablespaces are flagged as incompatible with MySQL due to divergent on-disk formats (different checksum algorithms, FSP flags, and page types). Migration requires a logical dump and reload.