The Sysadmin’s Daily Grind: Mtop
HEALTH CHECK
It would be great if every MySQL database enjoyed perfect health 24 by 7, but unfortunately, trouble sometimes strikes. A logfile isn’t much help if you are investigating why a database is flooded with requests. Mtop to the rescue.
We looked at ApacheTop in this column not too long ago. ApacheTop is a tool that tells you what your web server is doing right now, pointing out potential bottlenecks. In this month’s column, we will be looking at another member of the top family: Mtop, the realtime monitor for MySQL [1]. The Mtop tarball weighs in at a mere 48 kbytes. It requires a few Perl modules: Curses, DBI, DBD::mysql, and Net::Domain – but you will probably have most of these installed anyway, and CPAN will fill any gaps in next to no time. After satisfying the dependencies, enter perl Makefile.PL, make, and make install in /usr/local/bin/ to complete the Mtop build. The next step is to allow Mtop access to your MySQL process information, as – in contrast to Apachetop – Mtop does not simply parse the server logfiles, but requires direct access. I decided to set up a user with extremely restricted privileges in MySQL and did not assign a password. The following SQL prompt should do the trick for version 4.0.2 or newer of MySQL: grant super, reload, U process on *.* to mysqltop; grant super, reload, U process on *.* to mysqltop@localhost; flush privileges;
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.