How to load data from MySQL to Clickhouse

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your MySQL data into Clickhouse within minutes.

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Set up a MySQL connector in Airbyte

Connect to MySQL or one of 400+ pre-built or 10,000+ custom connectors through simple account authentication.

Set up Clickhouse for your extracted MySQL data

Select Clickhouse where you want to import data from your MySQL source to. You can also choose other cloud data warehouses, databases, data lakes, vector databases, or any other supported Airbyte destinations.

Configure the MySQL to Clickhouse in Airbyte

This includes selecting the data you want to extract - streams and columns -, the sync frequency, where in the destination you want that data to be loaded.

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How to Sync MySQL to Clickhouse Manually

Prerequisites

  • Ensure you have administrative access to the MySQL database.
  • Install ClickHouse server and client on the destination machine.
  • Familiarity with SQL and command-line tools.
  1. Connect to MySQL:
    Open a terminal and connect to your MySQL database using the following command:
    mysql -u [username] -p[password] [database_name]
    Replace `[username]`, `[password]`, and `[database_name]` with your MySQL credentials and database name.
  2. Choose Data to Export:
    Decide which tables or data you want to export. You can export entire tables or a subset of data based on your requirements.
  3. Export Data to CSV:
    Use the SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE statement to export the data to a CSV file. For example:
    SELECT * INTO OUTFILE '/path/to/your/output.csv'
    FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
    OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
    LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
    FROM your_table;

Replace `/path/to/your/output.csv` with the desired output file path and `your_table` with the table name you want to export.

  1. Review Data Types:
    Ensure that the MySQL data types are compatible with ClickHouse data types. You may need to convert certain data types to match ClickHouse’s requirements.
  2. Modify CSV (if necessary):
    If any modifications are needed (e.g., changing date formats or handling NULL values), process the CSV file using a scripting language like Python or a tool like awk.
  3. Split Large Files (optional):
    If the CSV file is very large, consider splitting it into smaller chunks to make the import process more manageable.
  1. Connect to ClickHouse:
    Open a terminal and connect to ClickHouse using the ClickHouse client:
    clickhouse-client -u [username] --password [password] --database [database_name]
    Replace [username], [password], and [database_name] with your ClickHouse credentials and database name.
  2. Create Table:
    Define the table schema in ClickHouse to match the structure of the MySQL data you are importing. Use the CREATE TABLE statement to create the table. For example:
    CREATE TABLE my_table (    
       id UInt32,    
        name String,    
        created_at DateTime
    ) ENGINE = MergeTree()
    ORDER BY id;

Adjust the table definition according to your data.

  1. Import Data:
    Use the clickhouse-client command to import the CSV file into ClickHouse. For example:
    clickhouse-client --query="INSERT INTO my_table FORMAT CSV" --database=[database_name] < /path/to/your/output.csv

    Replace [database_name] with your ClickHouse database name and /path/to/your/output.csv with the path to your CSV file.
  1. Check Data Count:
    Run a simple SELECT COUNT(*) FROM my_table; query in both MySQL and ClickHouse to ensure that the row counts match.
  2. Compare Sample Data:
    Compare a sample set of data from both databases to verify that the data has been transferred correctly.
  3. Validate Data Types:
    Ensure that all data types have been correctly interpreted and stored in ClickHouse.
  1. Optimize Table (if necessary):
    In ClickHouse, you can run OPTIMIZE TABLE my_table FINAL; to merge data parts and improve query performance.
  2. Remove Temporary Files:
    Delete the CSV files if they are no longer needed to free up space.

Tips:

  • Always back up your data before performing migration operations.
  • Test the migration process with a small subset of data before moving the entire dataset.
  • Consider the impact of timezone differences and character encoding between MySQL and ClickHouse.
  • If you encounter performance issues, you can tweak ClickHouse settings or adjust the import process (e.g., using parallel imports).

How to Sync MySQL to Clickhouse Manually - Method 2:

FAQs

ETL, an acronym for Extract, Transform, Load, is a vital data integration process. It involves extracting data from diverse sources, transforming it into a usable format, and loading it into a database, data warehouse or data lake. This process enables meaningful data analysis, enhancing business intelligence.

MySQL is an SQL (Structured Query Language)-based open-source database management system. An application with many uses, it offers a variety of products, from free MySQL downloads of the most recent iteration to support packages with full service support at the enterprise level. The MySQL server, while most often used as a web database, also supports e-commerce and data warehousing applications and more.

MySQL provides access to a wide range of data types, including:

1. Numeric data types: These include integers, decimals, and floating-point numbers.

2. String data types: These include character strings, binary strings, and text strings.

3. Date and time data types: These include date, time, datetime, and timestamp.

4. Boolean data types: These include true/false or yes/no values.

5. Spatial data types: These include points, lines, polygons, and other geometric shapes.

6. Large object data types: These include binary large objects (BLOBs) and character large objects (CLOBs).

7. Collection data types: These include arrays, sets, and maps.

8. User-defined data types: These are custom data types created by the user.

Overall, MySQL's API provides access to a wide range of data types, making it a versatile tool for managing and manipulating data in a variety of applications.

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps: 
1. Set up MySQL to ClickHouse as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
2. Choose a destination (more than 50 available destination databases, data warehouses or lakes) to sync data too and set it up as a destination connector
3. Define which data you want to transfer from MySQL to ClickHouse and how frequently
You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud. 

ELT, standing for Extract, Load, Transform, is a modern take on the traditional ETL data integration process. In ELT, data is first extracted from various sources, loaded directly into a data warehouse, and then transformed. This approach enhances data processing speed, analytical flexibility and autonomy.

ETL and ELT are critical data integration strategies with key differences. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) transforms data before loading, ideal for structured data. In contrast, ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) loads data before transformation, perfect for processing large, diverse data sets in modern data warehouses. ELT is becoming the new standard as it offers a lot more flexibility and autonomy to data analysts.

What should you do next?

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