TiDB Tools Use Cases

This document introduces the common use cases of TiDB tools and how to choose the right tool for your scenario.

Deploy and operate TiDB in Kubernetes

If you need to deploy and operate TiDB in Kubernetes, you can deploy a Kubernetes cluster, and then deploy TiDB Operator. After that, you can use TiDB Operator to deploy and operate a TiDB cluster.

Import data from CSV to TiDB

If you need to import the compatible CSV files exported by other tools to TiDB, use TiDB Lightning.

Import full data from MySQL/Aurora

If you need to import full data from MySQL/Aurora, use Dumpling first to export data as SQL dump files, and then use TiDB Lightning to import data into the TiDB cluster.

Migrate data from MySQL/Aurora

If you need to migrate both full data and incremental data from MySQL/Aurora, use TiDB Data Migration (DM) to perform the full and incremental data migration.

If the full data volume is large (at the TB level), you can first use Dumpling and TiDB Lightning to perform the full data migration, and then use DM to perform the incremental data migration.

Back up and restore TiDB cluster

If you need to back up a TiDB cluster, use Dumpling.

If you need to restore data to a TiDB cluster, use TiDB Lightning.

Migrate data from TiDB

If you need to migrate data from a TiDB cluster to MySQL or to another TiDB cluster, use Dumpling to export full data from TiDB as SQL dump files, and then use TiDB Lightning to import data to MySQL or another TiDB cluster.

If you also need to migrate incremental data, use TiDB Binlog.

TiDB incremental data subscription

If you need to subscribe to TiDB's incremental changes, use TiDB Binlog.