MySQL Performance Tuning Tools: mysqltuner.pl, tuning-primer.sh, pt-variable-advisor, and pt-query-digest

MySQL performance can be evaluated and optimized using several open‑source tools.

mysqltuner.pl

mysqltuner.pl is a widely used diagnostic script that checks MySQL/MariaDB/Percona Server configuration, logs, storage engines, security suggestions and performance metrics, offering improvement recommendations.

Project: https://github.com/major/MySQLTuner-perl

Download

[root@localhost ~]# wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/major/MySQLTuner-perl/master/mysqltuner.pl

Run

[root@localhost ~]# ./mysqltuner.pl --socket /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock

Report analysis

Key items marked with [!!] indicate serious issues such as memory over‑allocation. Review the “Recommendations” section for actionable advice.

tuning-primer.sh

tuning‑primer.sh performs a comprehensive health check of a MySQL instance and provides optimization suggestions.

Project: https://github.com/BMDan/tuning-primer.sh

Download

[root@localhost ~]# wget https://launchpad.net/mysql-tuning-primer/trunk/1.6-r1/+download/tuning-primer.sh

Run

[root@localhost dba]# ./tuning-primer.sh

Report analysis

Focus on entries highlighted in red; adjust settings according to the tool’s suggestions.

pt-variable-advisor

Part of Percona Toolkit, pt‑variable‑advisor examines MySQL variables and flags potential problems.

Download from Percona Toolkit: https://www.percona.com/downloads/percona-toolkit/LATEST/

Install

[root@localhost ~]# wget https://www.percona.com/downloads/percona-toolkit/3.0.13/binary/redhat/7/x86_64/percona-toolkit-3.0.13-re85ce15-el7-x86_64-bundle.tar
[root@localhost ~]# yum install percona-toolkit-3.0.13-1.el7.x86_64.rpm

Run

[root@localhost ~]# pt-variable-advisor localhost --socket /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock

Report analysis

Pay attention to entries marked with WARN for possible misconfigurations.

pt-query-digest

pt‑query‑digest parses MySQL slow‑query logs, process lists or tcpdump captures to produce detailed query performance statistics.

Install

Same as pt‑variable‑advisor (see section 3.1).

Run examples

# Analyze a slow‑log file
pt-query-digest /var/lib/mysql/slowtest-slow.log > slow_report.log

# Analyze the last 12 hours
pt-query-digest --since=12h /var/lib/mysql/slowtest-slow.log > recent_report.log

# Filter by time range
pt-query-digest /var/lib/mysql/slowtest-slow.log --since '2017-01-07 09:30:00' --until '2017-01-07 10:00:00' > range_report.log

# Show only SELECT statements
pt-query-digest --filter '$event->{fingerprint} =~ m/^select/i' /var/lib/mysql/slowtest-slow.log > select_report.log

# Show warnings for full scans or joins
pt-query-digest --filter '(($event->{Full_scan} || "") eq "yes") || (($event->{Full_join} || "") eq "yes")' /var/lib/mysql/slowtest-slow.log > scan_report.log

Report analysis

The output is divided into overall statistics, query‑group statistics, and detailed per‑query metrics such as total time, calls, average time per call, and variance‑to‑mean ratio.