MySQL 5.7.8 – Now featuring super_read_only and disabled_storage_engines

I wanted to highlight two new features that are making their way into MySQL 5.7 via the not-yet-released 5.7.8-rc2:

  • A new system variable super_read_only allows a more strict definition of ‘read-only’ which also applies to super users.
  • A new disabled_storage_engines setting offers a way to prevent an enumerated list of storage engines from being used. For example, a DBA may wish to enforce an InnoDB-only policy to simplify common operations such as backups, but it’s possible MyISAM may sneak back in via new code-deployments. This setting allows more active enforcement.

These features are the fruits of our engineering team meeting with our users at Percona Live this year. Thank you to Percona for once again hosting a great conference, and in particular thank you to @isamlambert (and the GitHub Engineering team), @John_Cesario, @denshikarasu & Rob Wultsch for specifically requesting these two features 🙂