MySQL 8.0 Reaches End‑of‑Life – What 8.4.9 LTS and 9.7.0 Bring to the Next Era

On 2026‑04‑21 Oracle announced three major releases: the final 8.0.46 build (entering Sustaining Support with no new patches), the 8.4.9 LTS maintenance release, and the 9.7.0 LTS version that moves from Innovation Release to long‑term support.

1. MySQL 8.0 lifecycle recap

MySQL 8.0 GAed on 2018‑04‑19 and introduced window functions, CTEs, InnoDB Cluster, JSON enhancements, and switched the default authentication plugin from mysql_native_password to caching_sha2_password. The last 8.0 build, 8.0.46, entered Oracle’s Sustaining Support on 2026‑04‑21, meaning no further security patches, bug fixes, or feature updates.

Key milestones: 8.0.0 DM (2016‑09), GA (2018‑04), bug‑only releases after 8.0.34 (2023‑07), EOL (2026‑04‑30).

Eight‑year lifespan mirrors MySQL 5.7’s 2015‑2023 cycle, giving users a predictable migration window.

2. Risks after 8.0 EOL

From 2026‑05‑01 instances running 8.0 will face:

Security vulnerabilities : new CVEs receive no official patches (red flag).

Compliance audits : PCI DSS 4.0.1, GB/T 22239‑2023, etc., may fail (red flag).

Third‑party libraries (OpenSSL, cURL, zlib) will also lack fixes (high risk).

Technical support from Oracle ends (medium risk).

Feature loss : cannot use new 9.x features (low risk for stable workloads).

The author strongly recommends upgrading before the end of 2026.

Cloud provider grace periods

Oracle MySQL HeatWave: standard support ends 2026‑04, extended to 2027‑04.

AWS RDS: standard support ends 2026‑07‑31, extended to 2029‑07‑31.

AWS Aurora v3: standard support ends 2028‑04‑30, extended to 2029‑07‑31.

Google Cloud SQL: standard support ends 2027‑01‑01, extended to 2029‑07‑01.

Azure Database for MySQL: standard support ends 2026‑12‑31, extended to 2029‑05‑31.

These periods are meant for planning, not for staying on 8.0.

Third‑party support options

Percona – up to three years of post‑EOL security updates and 24×7 support, with a migration path to Percona Server for MySQL.

TuxCare – Endless Lifecycle Support covering core MySQL components and bundled libraries.

Both are costly and intended as temporary bridges.

3. Deep dive into MySQL 8.4.9 LTS

8.4 is the first LTS line under Oracle’s new model, GAed on 2024‑04‑30 with five years of Premier Support plus three years of Extended Support (until ~2032‑04). 8.4.9, released on 2026‑04‑21, is the ninth maintenance release.

Security updates : OpenSSL upgraded to 3.5.5, zlib to 1.3.2.

InnoDB fixes : multi‑value index bug #39040128, parallel reader bug #39033858, FTS memory optimisation #39040226, disk‑space exhaustion bug #38370155 (related to high innodb_parallel_read_threads values), and TRUNCATE TABLE DDL issue #38169053.

Atomic DDL improvement : fixes for LOCK=NONE on virtual generated columns (bugs #83557, #24962142).

Telemetry : new performance-schema-meter parameter to enable/disable telemetry meters.

4. MySQL 9.7.0 LTS – the flagship release

9.7.0, also released on 2026‑04‑21, marks the transition of the Innovation Release to LTS. Oracle opens many Enterprise‑only features to the Community edition.

Enterprise features now in Community : Replication Applier Metrics, Group Replication Flow Control, Group Replication Resource Manager, Group Replication Primary Election, Telemetry (OpenTelemetry/OTLP).

Hypergraph Optimizer (available in Community): uses a hypergraph model for broader join plan space, supports Bushy Tree joins, cost‑based hash join selection, and interesting‑order optimisation.

JSON Duality Views : now support full DML (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE) and auto‑increment columns, allowing relational and document access on the same table.

Authentication : caching_sha2_password adds PBKDF2 storage format with SHA‑512 hashing, improving brute‑force resistance without client changes.

PGO build support : compile‑time optimisation using profile‑guided optimisation (e.g., rpmbuild --define="with_pgo 1" mysql-9.7.0-*.src.rpm).

cgroup cpuset support : MySQL now respects cpuset‑cpus limits in containers, useful for Kubernetes, Docker/Podman, and systemd services.

Installation of the new replication component can be done with:

INSTALL COMPONENT 'file://component_replication_applier_metrics';
SELECT * FROM mysql.component;

Enabling the Hypergraph Optimizer:

SET GLOBAL optimizer_switch='hypergraph_optimizer=on';
-- or session level
SET optimizer_switch='hypergraph_optimizer=on';
-- or with hint
SELECT /*+ SET_VAR(optimizer_switch='hypergraph_optimizer=on') */ ...;

Creating a JSON Duality View example:

CREATE TABLE customers (
  customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
  name VARCHAR(100),
  email VARCHAR(100),
  address VARCHAR(100)
);
CREATE OR REPLACE JSON RELATIONAL DUALITY VIEW customer_dv AS
SELECT JSON_DUALITY_OBJECT(
  WITH(INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)
  '_id'   : customer_id,
  'name'  : name,
  'email' : email,
  'address': address
) FROM customers;

Note: JSON columns cannot be projected in a Duality View yet.

5. Comparative matrix – which version to choose?

8.0.46 : End‑of‑Life, no support after 2026‑04‑30.

8.4.9 LTS : Current LTS, support until ~2032, stable, no Hypergraph Optimizer in Community, no JSON Duality DML.

9.7.0 LTS : New LTS, support until ~2034, includes Hypergraph Optimizer, JSON Duality DML, PBKDF2 authentication, cgroup cpuset support.

Selection guidance:

Choose 8.4.9 LTS if you need maximum stability, have legacy code, and want a short‑term upgrade window.

Choose 9.7.0 LTS if you want the latest performance, security, cloud‑native features, Hypergraph Optimizer, and JSON Duality Views, and you have resources to test the migration.

Upgrade path

MySQL 8.0.x → MySQL 8.4.x LTS → MySQL 9.7.0 LTS

Pre‑upgrade checklist

Identify users still on mysql_native_password and migrate to caching_sha2_password.

SELECT user, host, plugin FROM mysql.user WHERE plugin='mysql_native_password';
ALTER USER 'old_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'NewStrongPassword123!';

Remove deprecated system variables (e.g., expire_logs_days, query_cache, innodb_log_files_in_group) from my.cnf.

Check foreign‑key constraints that reference non‑unique parent keys (parameter restrict_fk_on_non_standard_key).

SELECT rc.TABLE_NAME, rc.CONSTRAINT_NAME, UNIQUE_CONSTRAINT_NAME, REFERENCED_TABLE_NAME
FROM information_schema.REFERENTIAL_CONSTRAINTS rc
JOIN information_schema.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS tc ON rc.UNIQUE_CONSTRAINT_NAME = tc.CONSTRAINT_NAME
WHERE tc.CONSTRAINT_TYPE != 'UNIQUE';

6. Outlook

The end of the 8.0 era signals a new chapter for MySQL. Oracle’s openness in 9.7 LTS—bringing many Enterprise features to the community and improving cloud‑native support—suggests a continued focus on stability and modern workloads, despite some community concerns about team changes.

For enterprises and developers, the practical advice is to stop delaying: plan the migration, test the new optimizer and JSON features, and leverage the extended support windows offered by cloud providers or third‑party vendors.