Provided by: percona-toolkit_2.2.7-1~dfsg1_all 
NAME
pt-index-usage - Read queries from a log and analyze how they use indexes.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: pt-index-usage [OPTIONS] [FILES]
pt-index-usage reads queries from logs and analyzes how they use indexes.
Analyze queries in slow.log and print reports:
pt-index-usage /path/to/slow.log --host localhost
Disable reports and save results to percona database for later analysis:
pt-index-usage slow.log --no-report --save-results-database percona
RISKS
Percona Toolkit is mature, proven in the real world, and well tested, but all database tools can pose a
risk to the system and the database server. Before using this tool, please:
• Read the tool's documentation
• Review the tool's known "BUGS"
• Test the tool on a non-production server
• Backup your production server and verify the backups
DESCRIPTION
This tool connects to a MySQL database server, reads through a query log, and uses EXPLAIN to ask MySQL
how it will use each query. When it is finished, it prints out a report on indexes that the queries
didn't use.
The query log needs to be in MySQL's slow query log format. If you need to input a different format, you
can use pt-query-digest to translate the formats. If you don't specify a filename, the tool reads from
STDIN.
The tool runs two stages. In the first stage, the tool takes inventory of all the tables and indexes in
your database, so it can compare the existing indexes to those that were actually used by the queries in
the log. In the second stage, it runs EXPLAIN on each query in the query log. It uses separate database
connections to inventory the tables and run EXPLAIN, so it opens two connections to the database.
If a query is not a SELECT, it tries to transform it to a roughly equivalent SELECT query so it can be
EXPLAINed. This is not a perfect process, but it is good enough to be useful.
The tool skips the EXPLAIN step for queries that are exact duplicates of those seen before. It assumes
that the same query will generate the same EXPLAIN plan as it did previously (usually a safe assumption,
and generally good for performance), and simply increments the count of times that the indexes were used.
However, queries that have the same fingerprint but different checksums will be re-EXPLAINed. Queries
that have different literal constants can have different execution plans, and this is important to
measure.
After EXPLAIN-ing the query, it is necessary to try to map aliases in the query back to the original
table names. For example, consider the EXPLAIN plan for the following query:
SELECT * FROM tbl1 AS foo;
The EXPLAIN output will show access to table "foo", and that must be translated back to "tbl1". This
process involves complex parsing. It is generally very accurate, but there is some chance that it might
not work right. If you find cases where it fails, submit a bug report and a reproducible test case.
Queries that cannot be EXPLAINed will cause all subsequent queries with the same fingerprint to be
blacklisted. This is to reduce the work they cause, and prevent them from continuing to print error
messages. However, at least in this stage of the tool's development, it is my opinion that it's not a
good idea to preemptively silence these, or prevent them from being EXPLAINed at all. I am looking for
lots of feedback on how to improve things like the query parsing. So please submit your test cases based
on the errors the tool prints!
OUTPUT
After it reads all the events in the log, the tool prints out DROP statements for every index that was
not used. It skips indexes for tables that were never accessed by any queries in the log, to avoid
false-positive results.
If you don't specify "--quiet", the tool also outputs warnings about statements that cannot be EXPLAINed
and similar. These go to standard error.
Progress reports are enabled by default (see "--progress"). These also go to standard error.
OPTIONS
This tool accepts additional command-line arguments. Refer to the "SYNOPSIS" and usage information for
details.
--ask-pass
Prompt for a password when connecting to MySQL.
--charset
short form: -A; type: string
Default character set. If the value is utf8, sets Perl's binmode on STDOUT to utf8, passes the
mysql_enable_utf8 option to DBD::mysql, and runs SET NAMES UTF8 after connecting to MySQL. Any other
value sets binmode on STDOUT without the utf8 layer, and runs SET NAMES after connecting to MySQL.
--config
type: Array
Read this comma-separated list of config files; if specified, this must be the first option on the
command line.
--create-save-results-database
Create the "--save-results-database" if it does not exist.
If the "--save-results-database" already exists and this option is specified, the database is used
and the necessary tables are created if they do not already exist.
--[no]create-views
Create views for "--save-results-database" example queries.
Several example queries are given for querying the tables in the "--save-results-database". These
example queries are, by default, created as views. Specifying "--no-create-views" prevents these
views from being created.
--database
short form: -D; type: string
The database to use for the connection.
--databases
short form: -d; type: hash
Only get tables and indexes from this comma-separated list of databases.
--databases-regex
type: string
Only get tables and indexes from database whose names match this Perl regex.
--defaults-file
short form: -F; type: string
Only read mysql options from the given file. You must give an absolute pathname.
--drop
type: Hash; default: non-unique
Suggest dropping only these types of unused indexes.
By default pt-index-usage will only suggest to drop unused secondary indexes, not primary or unique
indexes. You can specify which types of unused indexes the tool suggests to drop: primary, unique,
non-unique, all.
A separate "ALTER TABLE" statement for each type is printed. So if you specify "--drop all" and
there is a primary key and a non-unique index, the "ALTER TABLE ... DROP" for each will be printed on
separate lines.
--empty-save-results-tables
Drop and re-create all pre-existing tables in the "--save-results-database". This allows information
from previous runs to be removed before the current run.
--help
Show help and exit.
--host
short form: -h; type: string
Connect to host.
--ignore-databases
type: Hash
Ignore this comma-separated list of databases.
--ignore-databases-regex
type: string
Ignore databases whose names match this Perl regex.
--ignore-tables
type: Hash
Ignore this comma-separated list of table names.
Table names may be qualified with the database name.
--ignore-tables-regex
type: string
Ignore tables whose names match the Perl regex.
--password
short form: -p; type: string
Password to use when connecting.
--port
short form: -P; type: int
Port number to use for connection.
--progress
type: array; default: time,30
Print progress reports to STDERR. The value is a comma-separated list with two parts. The first
part can be percentage, time, or iterations; the second part specifies how often an update should be
printed, in percentage, seconds, or number of iterations.
--quiet
short form: -q
Do not print any warnings. Also disables "--progress".
--[no]report
default: yes
Print the reports for "--report-format".
You may want to disable the reports by specifying "--no-report" if, for example, you also specify
"--save-results-database" and you only want to query the results tables later.
--report-format
type: Array; default: drop_unused_indexes
Right now there is only one report: drop_unused_indexes. This report prints SQL statements for
dropping any unused indexes. See also "--drop".
See also "--[no]report".
--save-results-database
type: DSN
Save results to tables in this database. Information about indexes, queries, tables and their usage
is stored in several tables in the specified database. The tables are auto-created if they do not
exist. If the database doesn't exist, it can be auto-created with "--create-save-results-database".
In this case the connection is initially created with no default database, then after the database is
created, it is USE'ed.
pt-index-usage executes INSERT statements to save the results. Therefore, you should be careful if
you use this feature on a production server. It might increase load, or cause trouble if you don't
want the server to be written to, or so on.
This is a new feature. It may change in future releases.
After a run, you can query the usage tables to answer various questions about index usage. The
tables have the following CREATE TABLE definitions:
MAGIC_create_indexes:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS indexes (
db VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
tbl VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
idx VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
cnt BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
PRIMARY KEY (db, tbl, idx)
)
MAGIC_create_queries:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS queries (
query_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
fingerprint TEXT NOT NULL,
sample TEXT NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (query_id)
)
MAGIC_create_tables:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tables (
db VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
tbl VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
cnt BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
PRIMARY KEY (db, tbl)
)
MAGIC_create_index_usage:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS index_usage (
query_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
db VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
tbl VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
idx VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
cnt BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
UNIQUE INDEX (query_id, db, tbl, idx)
)
MAGIC_create_index_alternatives:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS index_alternatives (
query_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL, -- This query used
db VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL, -- this index, but...
tbl VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL, --
idx VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL, --
alt_idx VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL, -- was an alternative
cnt BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
UNIQUE INDEX (query_id, db, tbl, idx, alt_idx),
INDEX (db, tbl, idx),
INDEX (db, tbl, alt_idx)
)
The following are some queries you can run against these tables to answer common questions you might
have. Each query is also created as a view (with MySQL v5.0 and newer) if "--[no]create-views" is
true (it is by default). The view names are the strings after the "MAGIC_view_" prefix.
Question: which queries sometimes use different indexes, and what fraction of the time is each index
chosen? MAGIC_view_query_uses_several_indexes:
SELECT iu.query_id, CONCAT_WS('.', iu.db, iu.tbl, iu.idx) AS idx,
variations, iu.cnt, iu.cnt / total_cnt * 100 AS pct
FROM index_usage AS iu
INNER JOIN (
SELECT query_id, db, tbl, SUM(cnt) AS total_cnt,
COUNT(*) AS variations
FROM index_usage
GROUP BY query_id, db, tbl
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1
) AS qv USING(query_id, db, tbl);
Question: which indexes have lots of alternatives, i.e. are chosen instead of other indexes, and for
what queries? MAGIC_view_index_has_alternates:
SELECT CONCAT_WS('.', db, tbl, idx) AS idx_chosen,
GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT alt_idx) AS alternatives,
GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT query_id) AS queries, SUM(cnt) AS cnt
FROM index_alternatives
GROUP BY db, tbl, idx
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;
Question: which indexes are considered as alternates for other indexes, and for what queries?
MAGIC_view_index_alternates:
SELECT CONCAT_WS('.', db, tbl, alt_idx) AS idx_considered,
GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT idx) AS alternative_to,
GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT query_id) AS queries, SUM(cnt) AS cnt
FROM index_alternatives
GROUP BY db, tbl, alt_idx
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;
Question: which of those are never chosen by any queries, and are therefore superfluous?
MAGIC_view_unused_index_alternates:
SELECT CONCAT_WS('.', i.db, i.tbl, i.idx) AS idx,
alt.alternative_to, alt.queries, alt.cnt
FROM indexes AS i
INNER JOIN (
SELECT db, tbl, alt_idx, GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT idx) AS alternative_to,
GROUP_CONCAT(DISTINCT query_id) AS queries, SUM(cnt) AS cnt
FROM index_alternatives
GROUP BY db, tbl, alt_idx
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1
) AS alt ON i.db = alt.db AND i.tbl = alt.tbl
AND i.idx = alt.alt_idx
WHERE i.cnt = 0;
Question: given a table, which indexes were used, by how many queries, with how many distinct
fingerprints? Were there alternatives? Which indexes were not used? You can edit the following
query's SELECT list to also see the query IDs in question. MAGIC_view_index_usage:
SELECT i.idx, iu.usage_cnt, iu.usage_total,
ia.alt_cnt, ia.alt_total
FROM indexes AS i
LEFT OUTER JOIN (
SELECT db, tbl, idx, COUNT(*) AS usage_cnt,
SUM(cnt) AS usage_total, GROUP_CONCAT(query_id) AS used_by
FROM index_usage
GROUP BY db, tbl, idx
) AS iu ON i.db=iu.db AND i.tbl=iu.tbl AND i.idx = iu.idx
LEFT OUTER JOIN (
SELECT db, tbl, idx, COUNT(*) AS alt_cnt,
SUM(cnt) AS alt_total,
GROUP_CONCAT(query_id) AS alt_queries
FROM index_alternatives
GROUP BY db, tbl, idx
) AS ia ON i.db=ia.db AND i.tbl=ia.tbl AND i.idx = ia.idx;
Question: which indexes on a given table are vital for at least one query (there is no alternative)?
MAGIC_view_required_indexes:
SELECT i.db, i.tbl, i.idx, no_alt.queries
FROM indexes AS i
INNER JOIN (
SELECT iu.db, iu.tbl, iu.idx,
GROUP_CONCAT(iu.query_id) AS queries
FROM index_usage AS iu
LEFT OUTER JOIN index_alternatives AS ia
USING(db, tbl, idx)
WHERE ia.db IS NULL
GROUP BY iu.db, iu.tbl, iu.idx
) AS no_alt ON no_alt.db = i.db AND no_alt.tbl = i.tbl
AND no_alt.idx = i.idx
ORDER BY i.db, i.tbl, i.idx, no_alt.queries;
--set-vars
type: Array
Set the MySQL variables in this comma-separated list of "variable=value" pairs.
By default, the tool sets:
wait_timeout=10000
Variables specified on the command line override these defaults. For example, specifying "--set-vars
wait_timeout=500" overrides the defaultvalue of 10000.
The tool prints a warning and continues if a variable cannot be set.
--socket
short form: -S; type: string
Socket file to use for connection.
--tables
short form: -t; type: hash
Only get indexes from this comma-separated list of tables.
--tables-regex
type: string
Only get indexes from tables whose names match this Perl regex.
--user
short form: -u; type: string
User for login if not current user.
--version
Show version and exit.
--[no]version-check
default: yes
Check for the latest version of Percona Toolkit, MySQL, and other programs.
This is a standard "check for updates automatically" feature, with two additional features. First,
the tool checks the version of other programs on the local system in addition to its own version.
For example, it checks the version of every MySQL server it connects to, Perl, and the Perl module
DBD::mysql. Second, it checks for and warns about versions with known problems. For example, MySQL
5.5.25 had a critical bug and was re-released as 5.5.25a.
Any updates or known problems are printed to STDOUT before the tool's normal output. This feature
should never interfere with the normal operation of the tool.
For more information, visit <https://www.percona.com/version-check>.
DSN OPTIONS
These DSN options are used to create a DSN. Each option is given like "option=value". The options are
case-sensitive, so P and p are not the same option. There cannot be whitespace before or after the "="
and if the value contains whitespace it must be quoted. DSN options are comma-separated. See the
percona-toolkit manpage for full details.
• A
dsn: charset; copy: yes
Default character set.
• D
dsn: database; copy: yes
Database to connect to.
• F
dsn: mysql_read_default_file; copy: yes
Only read default options from the given file
• h
dsn: host; copy: yes
Connect to host.
• p
dsn: password; copy: yes
Password to use when connecting.
• P
dsn: port; copy: yes
Port number to use for connection.
• S
dsn: mysql_socket; copy: yes
Socket file to use for connection.
• u
dsn: user; copy: yes
User for login if not current user.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable "PTDEBUG" enables verbose debugging output to STDERR. To enable debugging and
capture all output to a file, run the tool like:
PTDEBUG=1 pt-index-usage ... > FILE 2>&1
Be careful: debugging output is voluminous and can generate several megabytes of output.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
You need Perl, DBI, DBD::mysql, and some core packages that ought to be installed in any reasonably new
version of Perl.
BUGS
For a list of known bugs, see <http://www.percona.com/bugs/pt-index-usage>.
Please report bugs at <https://bugs.launchpad.net/percona-toolkit>. Include the following information in
your bug report:
• Complete command-line used to run the tool
• Tool "--version"
• MySQL version of all servers involved
• Output from the tool including STDERR
• Input files (log/dump/config files, etc.)
If possible, include debugging output by running the tool with "PTDEBUG"; see "ENVIRONMENT".
DOWNLOADING
Visit <http://www.percona.com/software/percona-toolkit/> to download the latest release of Percona
Toolkit. Or, get the latest release from the command line:
wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.tar.gz
wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.rpm
wget percona.com/get/percona-toolkit.deb
You can also get individual tools from the latest release:
wget percona.com/get/TOOL
Replace "TOOL" with the name of any tool.
AUTHORS
Baron Schwartz and Daniel Nichter
ABOUT PERCONA TOOLKIT
This tool is part of Percona Toolkit, a collection of advanced command-line tools for MySQL developed by
Percona. Percona Toolkit was forked from two projects in June, 2011: Maatkit and Aspersa. Those
projects were created by Baron Schwartz and primarily developed by him and Daniel Nichter. Visit
<http://www.percona.com/software/> to learn about other free, open-source software from Percona.
COPYRIGHT, LICENSE, AND WARRANTY
This program is copyright 2011-2014 Percona LLC and/or its affiliates, 2010-2011 Baron Schwartz.
THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2; OR the Perl Artistic
License. On UNIX and similar systems, you can issue `man perlgpl' or `man perlartistic' to read these
licenses.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write
to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
VERSION
pt-index-usage 2.2.7
perl v5.18.2 2014-02-20 PT-INDEX-USAGE(1p)