MySQL is a relational database management system. It provides a very fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL (Structured Query Language) database server. MySQL is the most popular open source database, and is the database component of the LAMP software stack. LAMP consists of the Apache web server, MySQL and PHP, the essential building blocks to run a general purpose web server. MySQL is used and championed by many large organizations including Google, Facebook, the BBC, Intel, Sun, SAP, Dell, AMD, Novell, Veritas and many others.
With the increasing popularity of MySQL, it is not surprising that developers have written useful tools which help users to monitor, query, administer, troubleshoot, and optimize MySQL databases. This article identifies 13 open source tools which help to reduce the complexity associated with the powerful database software.
One tool which is not featured in this article but warrants a mention is sqlyog. It is an excellent utility to manage and administer MySQL. However, whilst the job agent is available as a native Linux utility, its main functionality has not been ported to Linux (although that does run under Wine).
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 13 excellent MySQL tools. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone interested in managing MySQL databases with the minimum of fuss.
Now, let’s explore the 13 MySQL tools at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of the software in action, together with links to relevant resources.
| MySQL Tools | |
|---|---|
| phpMyAdmin | MySQL web administration tool |
| MySQL Workbench | Complete visual database design tool |
| DBeaver | Universal database tool |
| mycli | Command line interface for MySQL, MariaDB, and Percona |
| gh-ost | GitHub's Online Schema Migrations for MySQL |
| Adminer | Full-featured tool for managing content in MySQL database |
| orchestrator | High availability and replication management tool |
| OmniDB | Collaborative environment For database management |
| Percona Toolkit | Essential command-line utilities for MySQL |
| SQuirreL SQL Client | Graphical SQL client written in Java |
| innotop | Real-time, advanced investigation tool |
| XtraBackup | Backup utility for MySQL |
| SQLCheck | Detects common SQL anti-patterns |
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |
You left out SQuirrel. It’s written in Java so is cross platform too. Personally I use DBeaver the most.
The purpose of our Group Tests is not to list every application, but to identify the best-of-breed. We’ve tried to include a variety of MySQL tools, not just SQL clients.
We prefer native Linux software, rather than Java-based software. And there’s better native open source SQL Linux clients than SQuirreL. But on this occasion, we’ve revisited SQuirreL and decided to include it in the Group Test.
Good call, I remember using SQuirrel in the past. Not a patch on DBeaver though.
It’s a shame mytop was discontinued, although it’s still available to download. But thanks for alerting me to innotop, which on the face it it looks very interesting.
Really nice list of MySQL Tools.