TokuDB Google Cloud Install: Starting MySQL... ERROR! The server quit without updating PID file

I am fairly new to TokuDB but so far I am impressed with the compression it provides to the data stored within. One of my clients has a ton of data that is constantly growing and thus TokuDB made a lot of sense for the solution that was created. While becoming more familiar with TokuDB and trying different cloud solutions I ran into a minor issue installing TokuDB on a Google Cloud VM instance but explain how to resolve easily below.

TokuDB Install On Google Cloud VM Instance: First MySQL Service Start Fails

If you receive the below error on the initial attempt to start MySQL after installing TokuDB the issue is likely related to the kernel having transparent_hugepage enabled.

Error Starting TokuDB MySQL:

[root@tokudb-mysql-server ~]# service mysql start
Starting MySQL... ERROR! The server quit without updating PID file (/var/lib/mysql/tokudb-mysql-server.pid).
[root@tokudb-mysql-server ~]#

As you can see in the error above MySQL fails to start and notes that the .pid file was not created. This is a fairly generic error so more investigation should be completed. In the TokuDB data directory you will find a .err file that is prefaced by the server name. In this example the server name is tokudb-mysql-server so the .err file is tokudb-mysql-server.err. The contents of that file are created after attempting to start MySQL and while you work through any issues you may have starting MySQL you should tail that file. Below are the contents of the .err file that lead me to updating the Google Cloud VM instance’s kernel transparent_hugepage setting.

TokuDB MySQL .err File Output:

150120 2:57:54 mysqld_safe Starting mysqld daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
150120 2:57:54 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use GCC atomic builtins
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Using Linux native AIO
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 128.0M
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda.
150120 2:57:54 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start
150120 2:57:55 InnoDB: 5.5.30-tokudb-7.1.0 started; log sequence number 1595675
Transparent huge pages are enabled, according to /sys/kernel/mm/redhat_transparent_hugepage/enabled
Transparent huge pages are enabled, according to /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
************************************************************
@@@@@@@@@@@
@@' '@@
@@ _ _ @@
| (.) (.) |
| ` |
| &gt; ' |
| .----. |
.. |.----.| ..
.. ' ' ..
.._______,.
TokuDB will not run with transparent huge pages enabled.
Please disable them to continue.
(echo never &gt; /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled)
************************************************************
150120 2:57:55 [ERROR] Plugin 'TokuDB' init function returned error.
150120 2:57:55 [ERROR] Plugin 'TokuDB' registration as a STORAGE ENGINE failed.
150120 2:57:55 [ERROR] Unknown/unsupported storage engine: TokuDB
150120 2:57:55 [ERROR] Aborting
150120 2:57:55 InnoDB: Starting shutdown...
150120 2:57:56 InnoDB: Shutdown completed; log sequence number 1595675
150120 2:57:56 [Note] /usr/local/tokutek/mysql/bin/mysqld: Shutdown complete
150120 02:57:56 mysqld_safe mysqld from pid file /var/lib/mysql/tokudb-mysql-server.pid ended

The error log output points you directly to how to permanently resolve the issue by issuing a single command to disable transparent_hugepage in the kernel. Before issuing the second command below I recommend first verifying the current transparent_hugepage setting which is “always” on a Google Cloud VM instance.

Verify Google Cloud VM Instance Kernel transparent_hugepage Setting: