Last week I had to downgrade from MySQL 5.6 to 5.5. The reason for this was that the application used a very old Connector/J and that's incompatible with MySQL 5.6 because the removal of SET OPTION syntax. We're now planning to upgrade Connector/J to be able to upgrade to 5.6 again. There are two methods of downgrading: Dump/Restore with mysqldump. This is easy and reliable, but can take more time. In place (replace binaries, don't change data). This fast, but won't work if file formats have changed. As expected this is documented in the MySQL Reference Manual. I went for the in place method. I expected this to work without many issues as this database was not using the fancy new features like fulltext indexes for InnoDB. All tables used the A ntelope format. As both MySQL versions support A ntelope and B arracuda this shoud be fine. I don't know why Oracle didn't introduce a new C heeta format with the introduction of the fulltext indexes. The i...

I've been working on the CIS security benchmark for Oracle MySQL 5.6. There already is a benchmark document for earlier versions of MySQL. The benchmark document helps you to ensure you have a secure configuration for MySQL. Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a nonprofit organization. The Call For Participation is now open. If you are already a CIS member then you can download the document here . If you don't have an account you can register for free.