API Gateway: Managing replication for the OTK database

Products

• CA API Gateway

Issue/Introduction

This article will discuss replication of the OTK database for internal MySQL servers held on the API Gateway nodes. Often times, there is a need to replicate the OTK database between MySQL database servers, particularly in a production-level environment for Gateway failover purposes if one MySQL instance stops running for example.

Environment

This article applies to all supported versions of the API Gateway.

Resolution

Officially, Broadcom Support does not support setting up replication for any database other than the SSG database, thus excluding the OTK database. However, there are some recommendations for how to get the OTK database replicating between MySQL database servers.

 

If MySQL replication is not yet running, consider starting MySQL replication first then create the OTK database so that it is automatically replicated to the other MySQL database server. This is considered to be the best practice / best approach to this concern.

 

If the OTK database was already created prior to MySQL replication running and replication was initiated afterwards, then it's very likely that only the SSG database is actually replicating and OTK was not included in the initial setup of replication. In such a case, it would be wise to consider dropping the OTK database and recreating it so that it will then automatically be replicated to the other MySQL servers. If there is already data in the OTK database that is production-level, be sure to back it up first before dropping the database. The database can then be dropped, recreated, and the data can be imported back into it once ready.

Additional Information

It is always recommended to use an external MySQL database server for OTK (and even SSG if possible) to avoid various performance issues that come with running a very actively used database such as OTK, and this will also allow a proper DB admin to monitor and setup replication and enhance performance for OTK. Broadcom Support does not recommend hosting the OTK database on the same servers as the Gateway service is running on.