Purge MySQL binlogs like a pro with a little guidance from our in-house experts. 

At Bobcares, we offer solutions for every query, big and small, as a part of our MySQL Support Services.

Let’s take a look at how our MySQL Support Team is ready to help customers understand more about purging MySQL binlogs.

How to purge MySQL binlogs

The binary logs or MySQL binlogs can be described as a set of files consisting of information about data modifications by the MySQL server. In other words, the log contains binary log files as well as an index file.

We can delete all binary log files with the help of the following statement:

PURGE { BINARY | MASTER } LOGS { 
	TO 'log_name' 
	| BEFORE datetime_expr 
}

The MySQL binlog files prior to the file name or date are deleted.

Here are a few examples of how to use the statement:

PURGE BINARY LOGS TO 'mariadb-bin.000063';
PURGE BINARY LOGS BEFORE '2021-04-16';
PURGE BINARY LOGS BEFORE '2022-04-12 07:45:32';

In case the server did not start with the –log-bin option, the PURGE BINARY LOGS have no effect. Additionally, the statement requires BINLOG_ADMIN privilege to function.

Moreover, it is safe to run the purge MySQL binlogs statement which replicas are replicating. For instance, if we have an active replica reading a log file that we are attempting to delete, the statement will not delete that specific MySQL binlog file or the ones after it. In fact, we will get a warning message in this scenario.

According to our MySQL Support Techs, we should not issues the PURGE BINARY LOGS statement if a LOCK INSTANCE FOR BACKUP statement is in place for the instance.

Furthermore, MySQL automatically removes MySQL binlogs files after the expiration period of the binary log. By default, the expiration period is 30 days. However, we can modify this by changing the binlog_expire_logs_seconds system variable value.

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Conclusion

In a nutshell, our skilled MySQL Support Engineers at Bobcares helped us understand more about purging MySQL binlogs.