Components and plugin management

The component based structure is supported by MySQL server, to extend the server capabilities. MySQL 8 uses the INSTALL COMPONENT and UNINSTALL COMPONENT SQL statements to load and unload components at runtime. MySQL 8 manages component details into the mysql.component system table. So, every time a new component is installed, MySQL 8 server performs the following tasks:

• Load components into server to make available instantly
• Load service registered component into the mysql.component system table. 

When we uninstall any component, MySQL server will perform the same steps, but in the reverse order. To see which components are available, execute the following query:

SELECT * FROM mysql.component;

MySQL 8 server plugins

MySQL 8 server has a plugin API that enables the creation of server components. With MySQL 8, you have the flexibility of installing a plugin at runtime or at startup. In the following topics we will learn about the life cycle of the MySQL 8 server...