MySQL 8.0 roles

One of the most interesting features introduced in MySQL 8.0 is roles or the ability of defining a set of privileges as a named role and then granting that set to one or more users. The main benefits are more clarity of privileges and ease of administration. Using roles we can assign the same set of privileges to several users, and eventually modify or revoke all privileges at once.

Roles in a nutshell

Looking at the manual, we see that using roles is a matter of several steps.

(1) Create a role. The statement is similar to CREATE USER though the effects are slightly different (we will see it in more detail later on.)

mysql [localhost] {root} ((none)) > CREATE ROLE r_lotr_dev;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)

(2) Grant privileges to the role. Again, this looks like granting privileges to a user.

mysql [localhost] {root} ((none)) > GRANT ALL on lotr.* TO r_lotr_dev;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

(3) Create a user. This is the same that we've been doing until version 5.7.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > create user aragorn identified by 'lotrpwd';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

Notice that the role is in the mysql.user table, and looks a lot like a user.

mysql [localhost] {root} ((none)) > select host, user, authentication_string from mysql.user where user not like '%sandbox%;
+-----------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| host      | user        | authentication_string                     |
+-----------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| %         | r_lotr_dev  |                                           | 
| %         | aragorn     | *3A376D0203958F6EB9E6166DC048EC04F84C00B9 |
| localhost | mysql.sys   | *THISISNOTAVALIDPASSWORDTHATCANBEUSEDHERE |
| localhost | root        | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
+-----------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+

(4) Grant the role to the user. Instead of granting single privileges, we grant the role. Note that when we use this syntax we can't specify the ON xxx clause, because it is already implicit in the role definition.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > grant r_lotr_dev to aragorn;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.03 sec)

The relationship between user and role is recorded in a new table in the mysql database:

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select * from mysql.role_edges;
+-----------+------------+---------+---------+-------------------+
| FROM_HOST | FROM_USER  | TO_HOST | TO_USER | WITH_ADMIN_OPTION |
+-----------+------------+---------+---------+-------------------+
| %         | r_lotr_dev | %       | aragorn | N                 |
+-----------+------------+---------+---------+-------------------+

(5) Finally we set the default role. Until this point, the role is assigned to the user, but not active. We either set the default role permanently (as done below) or we let the user activate the role.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > alter user aragorn default role r_lotr_dba;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

If a default role has been set, it is recorded in another new table, mysql.default_roles.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select * from mysql.default_roles;
+------+---------+-------------------+-------------------+
| HOST | USER    | DEFAULT_ROLE_HOST | DEFAULT_ROLE_USER |
+------+---------+-------------------+-------------------+
| %    | aragorn | %                 | r_lotr_dba        |
+------+---------+-------------------+-------------------+

Common gotchas

If we follow all the steps described above, using roles would not feel any different than using old style grants. But it is easy to go astray if we skip something. Let's see an example. First, we create an user and grant the same role as the one given to user aragorn:

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > create user legolas identified by 'lotrpwd';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.03 sec)

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > grant r_lotr_dev to legolas;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

Then we connect using user legolas:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > use lotr;
ERROR 1044 (42000): Access denied for user 'legolas'@'%' to database 'lotr'
mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > show grants;
+-----------------------------------------+
| Grants for legolas@%                    |
+-----------------------------------------+
| GRANT USAGE ON *.* TO `legolas`@`%`     |
| GRANT `r_lotr_dev`@`%` TO `legolas`@`%` |
+-----------------------------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > show grants for legolas using r_lotr_dev;
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Grants for legolas@%                              |
+---------------------------------------------------+
| GRANT USAGE ON *.* TO `legolas`@`%`               |
| GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `lotr`.* TO `legolas`@`%` |
| GRANT `r_lotr_dev`@`%` TO `legolas`@`%`           |
+---------------------------------------------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

The role is assigned to the user, but it is not active, as no default role was defined. To use a role, the user must activate one:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > select current_role();
+----------------+
| current_role() |
+----------------+
| NONE           |
+----------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

There is no default role for legolas. We need to assign one.

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > set role r_lotr_dev;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > select current_role();
+------------------+
| current_role()   |
+------------------+
| `r_lotr_dev`@`%` |
+------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Now the role is active, and all its privileges kick in:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > use lotr
Database changed
mysql [localhost] {legolas} (lotr) > show tables;
Empty set (0.00 sec)

mysql [localhost] {legolas} (lotr) > create table t1 (i int not null primary key);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.15 sec)

Note that the role activation is volatile. If the user reconnects, the role activation goes away:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > connect;
Connection id:    33
Current database: *** NONE ***

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > select current_role();
+----------------+
| current_role() |
+----------------+
| NONE           |
+----------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

For a permanent assignment, the user can use the SET DEFAULT ROLE statement:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > set default role r_lotr_dev to legolas;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

The above statement corresponds to ALTER USER ... DEFAULT ROLE .... Every user can set its own role with this statement, without ending additional privileges.

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > alter user legolas default role r_lotr_dev;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

Now if the user reconnects, the role persists:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > connect
Connection id:    34
Current database: *** NONE ***

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > select current_role();
+------------------+
| current_role()   |
+------------------+
| `r_lotr_dev`@`%` |
+------------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

However, if an user sets its own default role using ALTER USER, the change will be available only in the next session, or after calling SET ROLE.

Let's try:

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > set default role none to legolas;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > select current_role();
+------------------+
| current_role()   |
+------------------+
| `r_lotr_dev`@`%` |
+------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

The role stays what it was before. This is similar to what happens when using SET GLOBAL var_name vs SET SESSION var_name. In the first case the effect persists, but it is not activated immediately, while a session set will be immediately usable, but will not persist after a new connection.

mysql [localhost] {legolas} ((none)) > connect
Connection id:    35
Current database: *** NONE ***

select current_role();
+----------------+
| current_role() |
+----------------+
| NONE           |
+----------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

It's worth mentioning that SET DEFAULT ROLE implies an hidden update of a mysql table (default_roles), similar to what happens with SET PASSWORD. In both cases, a user without explicit access to the mysql database will be unable to check the effects of the operation.

Advanced role management.

Dealing with one or two roles is no big deal. Using the statements seen above, we can easily see what privileges were granted to a role or an user. When we have many roles and many users, the overview become more difficult to achieve.

Before we see the complex scenario, let's have a deeper look at what constitutes a role.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > create role role1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > create user user1 identified by 'somepass';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select host, user, authentication_string , password_expired , account_locked from user where user in ('role1', 'user1');
+------+-------+-------------------------------------------+------------------+----------------+
| host | user  | authentication_string                     | password_expired | account_locked |
+------+-------+-------------------------------------------+------------------+----------------+
| %    | role1 |                                           | Y                | Y              |
| %    | user1 | *13883BDDBE566ECECC0501CDE9B293303116521A | N                | N              |
+------+-------+-------------------------------------------+------------------+----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

The main difference between user and role is that a role is created with password_expired and account_locked. Apart from that, an user could be used as a role and vice versa.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > alter user role1 identified by 'msandbox';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec)

mysql [localhost] {root} ((none)) > alter user role1 account unlock;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)

Now role1 can access the database as any other user.

mysql [localhost] {root} ((none)) > grant root@'localhost' to user1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.03 sec)

And user1 inherits all privileges from root, but it can access the server from any host.

Now let's see some complex usage of roles. In a typical organisation, we would define several roles to use the lotr database:

CREATE ROLE r_lotr_observer;
CREATE ROLE r_lotr_tester;
CREATE ROLE r_lotr_dev;
CREATE ROLE r_lotr_dba;

GRANT SELECT on lotr.* TO r_lotr_observer;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE on lotr.* TO r_lotr_tester;
GRANT ALL on lotr.* TO r_lotr_dev;
GRANT ALL on *.* TO r_lotr_dba;

And then assign those roles to several users:

CREATE USER bilbo     IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER frodo     IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER sam       IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER pippin    IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER merry     IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER boromir   IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER gimli     IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER aragorn   IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER legolas   IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER gollum    IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER galadriel IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox' PASSWORD EXPIRE;
CREATE USER gandalf   IDENTIFIED BY 'msandbox';

GRANT r_lotr_observer TO pippin, merry, boromir, gollum;
SET DEFAULT ROLE r_lotr_observer to pippin, merry, boromir, gollum;

GRANT r_lotr_tester TO sam, bilbo, gimli;
SET DEFAULT ROLE r_lotr_tester to sam, bilbo, gimli;

GRANT r_lotr_dev to frodo, aragorn, legolas;
SET DEFAULT ROLE r_lotr_dev to frodo, aragorn, legolas;

GRANT r_lotr_dba TO gandalf, galadriel;
SET DEFAULT ROLE r_lotr_dba to gandalf, galadriel;

Now we have 12 users with 4 different roles. Looking at the user table, we don't get a good overview:

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select host, user, authentication_string from mysql.user where user not like '%sandbox%';
+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------+
| host      | user            | authentication_string                     |
+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------+
| %         | aragorn         | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | bilbo           | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | boromir         | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | frodo           | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | galadriel       | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | gandalf         | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | gimli           | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | gollum          | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | legolas         | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | merry           | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | pippin          | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| %         | r_lotr_dba      |                                           |
| %         | r_lotr_dev      |                                           |
| %         | r_lotr_observer |                                           |
| %         | r_lotr_tester   |                                           |
| %         | sam             | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
| localhost | mysql.sys       | *THISISNOTAVALIDPASSWORDTHATCANBEUSEDHERE |
| localhost | root            | *6C387FC3893DBA1E3BA155E74754DA6682D04747 |
+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------+

And even the roles_edges table does show a clear picture:

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select * from role_edges;
+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+-------------------+
| FROM_HOST | FROM_USER       | TO_HOST | TO_USER   | WITH_ADMIN_OPTION |
+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+-------------------+
| %         | r_lotr_dba      | %       | galadriel | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_dba      | %       | gandalf   | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_dev      | %       | aragorn   | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_dev      | %       | frodo     | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_dev      | %       | legolas   | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_observer | %       | boromir   | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_observer | %       | gollum    | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_observer | %       | merry     | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_observer | %       | pippin    | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_tester   | %       | bilbo     | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_tester   | %       | gimli     | N                 |
| %         | r_lotr_tester   | %       | sam       | N                 |
+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+-------------------+

Here's a better use of that table's data. Which users are using the dev role?

select to_user as users from role_edges where from_user = 'r_lotr_dev';
+---------+
| users   |
+---------+
| aragorn |
| frodo   |
| legolas |
+---------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

And the testers?

select to_user as users from role_edges where from_user = 'r_lotr_tester';
+-------+
| users |
+-------+
| bilbo |
| gimli |
| sam   |
+-------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Or, even better, we could see all the roles at once:

select from_user as role, count(*) as how_many_users, group_concat(to_user) as users from role_edges group by role;
+-----------------+----------------+-----------------------------+
| role            | how_many_users | users                       |
+-----------------+----------------+-----------------------------+
| r_lotr_dba      |              2 | galadriel,gandalf           |
| r_lotr_dev      |              3 | aragorn,frodo,legolas       |
| r_lotr_observer |              4 | boromir,gollum,merry,pippin |
| r_lotr_tester   |              3 | bilbo,gimli,sam             |
+-----------------+----------------+-----------------------------+
4 rows in set (0.01 sec)

Similarly, we could list the default role for several users:

select default_role_user as default_role, group_concat(user) as users from default_roles group by default_role;
+-----------------+-----------------------------+
| default_role    | users                       |
+-----------------+-----------------------------+
| r_lotr_dba      | galadriel,gandalf           |
| r_lotr_dev      | aragorn,frodo,legolas       |
| r_lotr_observer | boromir,gollum,merry,pippin |
| r_lotr_tester   | bilbo,gimli,sam             |
+-----------------+-----------------------------+

The latest two queries should be good candidates for information_schema views.

Another candidate for an information_schema view is the list of roles, for which there is no satisfactory workaround now. The best we could think of is a list of users with password_expired and account_locked:

select host, user from mysql.user where password_expired='y' and account_locked='y';
+------+-----------------+
| host | user            |
+------+-----------------+
| %    | r_lotr_dba      |
| %    | r_lotr_dev      |
| %    | r_lotr_observer |
| %    | r_lotr_tester   |
+------+-----------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Until a feature to differentiate users and roles is developed, it is advisable to use a name format that helps identify roles without help from the server. In this article I am using r_ as a prefix, which makes role listing easier.

mysql [localhost] {root} (mysql) > select host, user from mysql.user where user like 'r_%';
+------+-----------------+
| host | user            |
+------+-----------------+
| %    | r_lotr_dba      |
| %    | r_lotr_dev      |
| %    | r_lotr_observer |
| %    | r_lotr_tester   |
+------+-----------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Known bugs

• bug#85562 Dropping a role does not remove privileges from active users.
• bug#85561 Users can be assigned non-existing roles as default.
• bug#85559 Dropping a role does not remove the associated default roles.
• bug#84244 Distinguish roles and plain users in mysql.user.
• bug#82987 SHOW CREATE USER doesn't show default role.

Summing up

Roles are a great addition to the MySQL feature set. The usability could be improved with some views in information_schema (usersforrole, defaultroleforuser) and functions in sys schema (defaultroleforuser, is_role.)

Perhaps some commands to activate or deactivate roles could make administration easier. The current bugs don't affect the basic functionality but decrease usability. I think that another run of bug fixing and user feedback would significantly improve this feature.

More about roles in my talk at PerconaLive 2017.

PerconaLive Amsterdam 2016 - Talks and shows

With Oracle Open World behind us, we are now getting ready for the next big event, i.e. the European edition of PerconaLive. I am going to be a presenter three times:

• MySQL operations in Docker is a three-hour tutorial, and it will be an expansion of the talk by the same title presented at OOW. Attendees who want to play along can do it, by coming prepared with Docker 1.11 or later and the following images already pulled (images with [+] are mandatory, while [-] are optional):

  • mysql/mysql-server [+]
  • mysql/mysql-gr [+]
  • mysql [-]
  • percona/percona-server [-]
  • mariadb [-]
  • mysql/shell [-]
  • datacharmer/mysql-minimal-5.5 [-]
  • datacharmer/mysql-minimal-5.6 [-]
  • datacharmer/mysql-minimal-5.7 [-]
  • datacharmer/mysql-minimal-8.0 [-]
  • datacharmer/my-ubuntu [-]
  • datacharmer/my-debian [-]
  • datacharmer/my-centos [-]

• The fastest customized MySQL deployment ever is a presentation where I show two ways of deploying MySQL on a custom server, with MySQL Sandbox and Docker.

• The lightning talks will be held during the Community dinner at Booking.com, diamond sponsor of the conference. If you want to attend, you need to register, and if you want a free ticker for that dinner, there is still ONE SLOT for the lightning talks. Contact me directly with a title and an abstract if you want to be considered for that slot (finding my email is part of the challenge, but it should not be that difficult).

UPDATE: here's the lightning talks program. Percona should eventually add it to the schedule.

• 19:00: arrival at Booking.com by boat
• 19:15: welcoming speech and beginning of the LT
• 20:00 food buffet opens, LT are not finished yet
• 20:30: LT are done, buffet still open
• 21:15: buffet closes

The talks accepted are the following:

• Jaime Crespo
  dbhell: a tiny Python framework for the administration and monitoring of farms of MySQL servers
• Federico Razzoli
  How to write slow and buggy stored procedures
• Art Van Scheppingen
  Simple household rules that keep MySQL running
• Pavel Tru
  What internal statistics every self-respecting dbms should have!
• Giuseppe Maxia
  Fastest, smallest, newest: download and deploy MySQL at high speed
• Ronald Bradford
  An Awe-Inspiring Journey Through the World of Numbers

Lightning talks at Percona Live Amsterdam: come on stage!

The schedule to Percona Live Europe 2016 is being finalized. It should be published soon, and it will include 3 hour and 6 hour tutorials, regular 50-minute talks, and shorter 25-minutes talks. It will not include, however, the lightning talks, a session comprising several 5-minute talks, and they are missing from the initial schedule for two reasons:

• We want to offer a chance to all attendees to propose a lightning talk for some time. We would like to have more quality material to choose from.
• They will not be in the conference venue. Instead, they will be hosted at Booking, during the community dinner.

Unlike in previous editions, though, the lightning talks will be kept separated from the party. We want the talks to be enjoyable for both the speakers and the attendees, free from distracting noise. Booking will offer its auditorium for this purpose, and this means a chance to speak in a very prestigious place.

Accepted lightning talks speakers will receive a 50 EUR discount on the conference registration. Additionally, LT speakers will enjoy an further benefit, as they will receive a free ticket for the community dinner hosted at Booking headquarters.

You have still some time left. I will accept proposals until the and of August. Don't wait! Submit a proposal for a lightning talk and claim your spot in the limelight (and a free dinner!)

Lightning talks at Percona Live Data Performance Conference

The main schedule for the Percona Live Data Performance Conference is available. Almost everything has been defined. There are tutorials and plenty of sessions waiting for conference attendees.

One thing that is still undefined is the session of lightning talks. The call for participation for these mini sessions of 5 minutes each is still open. If you plan to attend Percona Live, this is your chance to get your 5 minutes of celebrity: you can submit a proposal up to February 7th, 2016. There is a lot that can be said in 5 minutes. If you have an interesting topic to highlight, a pet project to show off, a neat trick to recommend, a happy or painful experience to share, a lightning talk is the right place to apply.

There are also open slots for Birds Of A Feather (BoF) sessions. These are not lectures, but rather meetings of users who share the same interest. If you want to apply for one of these sessions, don't propose a topic where you address the audience, but propose a theme for a discussion among peers. BoF sessions are often the place where new ideas are born, helped by the free discussion among passionate users. If you have an open source project and want to ask for feedback, or if you want help defining the road map for an already successful project, a BoF is what you need. Also for this kind of sessions, the deadline is February 7th.

And remember: the conference is not limited to MySQL. Every data related topic (such as nosql, big data, database engines, data storage technologies) could trigger an interesting talk.

Percona Live Data Performance Conference 2016 - CFP and Community voting

The call for participation for Percona Live Data Performance Conference 2016 is still open. Deadline for submission is November 29th.

There are two immediately noticeable novelties in this edition:

• The name change. Not "MySQL & Expo" but "Data Performance Conference." It makes the conference open to a broader set of topics.
• The community voting. Proposals can get evaluated by the community before the review committee takes decisions.

I think it's a good choice. Other conferences adopt the same method. The attendees choose what they want to see and hear. In this case, it's mixed method, where the community voting is used as an indication for the review committee, which, by my understanding, has the final say.

Vote for my proposals!

Below are my proposals. Clicking on the links below will take you to the conference site, where you can say if you want to see these talks or not. You will need to register (to the site, not yet to the conference) in order to cast votes.

• MySQL Replication, the community sceptic roundup

Here is a talk that is in continuous evolution. It discusses the latest advances in replication, and gives an honest evaluation of the features from a new user standpoint. This talk, if accepted, will be updated with the latest novelties in MariaDB and MySQL, if they come out in time for the conference. You can see in my blog six articles covering related matters.

• MySQL operations in Docker

Another tutorial, this one aimed at users of containers who want to get started with this exciting technology. Also for this topic I have written a few articles.

• MySQL deployment methods - whole servers, sandboxes, virtual machines, containers

This is a short talk that wants to explain the differences between deployment methods. Standalone physical servers, sandboxes, virtual machines, and containers are choices that require some information to get started. This talk, for which I also wrote an article, wants to show the good and bad of each choice.

• The geeky pleasure of wet shaving

This is a lightning talk, which is not about data performance, but it's a geeky topic and I was asked to submit it. So here it is!

Percona Live Amsterdam - September 21-23, 2015

I am attending Percona Live Amsterdam 2015 on September 21-23, 2015.

I will be on stage three times:

• September 22nd at 2:10pm Pivot tables: analytics in pure SQL
• September 23rd at 2:10pm The future of replication is today: new features in practice
• September 23rd at 5:10pm as host and speaker in the Lightning talks

My first talk is a topic that has ben among my favorites for long time: I published an article about it in 2001, and several more in the years to come.

The second one is a summary of what I have written recently about replication technologies.

The lightning talks are a collection of 5-minutes long talks that are presented by different speakers. For the first time, the LT are held in a separate room instead of being attached to one of the community events. It will be fun!

Percona has just released a mobile app for the conference for both iOS and Android. With it, it is possible to set a personalized schedule, follow the show more closely, and get in touch with other attendees. It is a very good addition!

There is much to watch at the conference, and I look forward to seeing the latest innovation in the field. I will miss some very interesting talks because they are at the same time as mine (!!) but I hope I will catch up with the speakers in the conference hall.

Call for papers (with lightning talks): Percona Live MySQL Conference 2014

The call for participation for Percona Live MySQL Conference 2014 is still open. As part of the review committee, I will be looking at the proposals, and I hope to see many interesting ones.

There is a novelty in the submission form. In addition to tutorials and regular sessions, now you can submit proposals for lightning talks, to which I am particularly interested, as I have organized the lightning talks in the past two editions, and I am in charge to continue the tradition for the next one.

If you want to be a speaker at the conference, here are some tips to get your proposal accepted:

• Propose a topic that you know well;
• Take some time to write a well thought and meaningful proposal: nothing gets me faster to the rejection button than statements like “I want to talk about X, I will think of something to say”;
• Write your proposal with the attendees in mind, i.e. giving information that will make them want to see your presentation;
• But also write with the committee in mind. There is a space for private messages to the reviewers. Use it wisely if there is something that we need to know.
• Mind your buzzwords. I am not easily impressed by fashionable topics. Back your proposal with sound reasoning. Don’t assume that I, or anyone in the committee, see things your way, or the way they are reported in the press.
• Check your spelling. Another way of getting rejected quickly is when you misspell the topic you claim to be an expert of.
• And check your spelling again. If you miss the difference between “know its shit” and “know it’s shit,” I am less inclined to approve.
• Write a sensible bio. We need to know who are you and what you do, to see if your story is compatible with your proposal.
• Write enough to make your proposal clear. A proposal that is shorter than your bio will raise a red flag. But do not write too much. You are writing a proposal, not an article on the matter. If you have written an interesting article on the topic, give us an URL.

Regarding the lightning talks, I have some more recommendations.

• A lightning talk last 5 minutes maximum. Don’t propose a topic that cannot be exhausted in that timeframe.
• An accepted lightning talk does not give you a free pass (unless you are also accepted as speaker for a regular talk). You will be given a code to register at a 15% discount.
• You should propose something that it is either highly interesting, or surprising, or entertaining, or all the above: the lightning talks are a show.
• Be daring in your proposals. While a regular talk might be refused if you propose to sing the InnoDB settings, a LT on this topic could be seen as legitimate (but you must demonstrate that you can do it!)
• Convince me (specifically, as I will be choosing the talks accepted by the committee) that you want to be on stage and have the abilities for the show.
• Be prepared to show your slides earlier than usual. As the organizer, I need to make sure that you have something meaningful to show before sending you on stage.
• Be aware of the rules:
  • All slides will be loaded into a single computer, to minimize delays between talks;
  • Someone (probably me) will nag the speakers until they either surrender their slides or escape to Mexico;
  • All speakers will meet 15 minutes before the start, and be given the presentation order. Missing speakers will be replaced by reserve speakers;
  • The speaker will have 5 minutes to deliver the talk.
  • When one minute is left, there will be a light sound to remind of the remaining time.
  • When 10 seconds are left, most likely the audience will start chanting the countdown.
  • When the time is finished, the speaker must leave the podium to the next one.

If you have reached this point, you are ready to submit a proposal!

See also:

• Lightning Talks at Percona Live MySQL Conference 2012
• Lightning talks at Percona Live MySQL Conference 2013