Steps to Implement Audit Logging
1. Install the Audit Log Plugin
INSTALL PLUGIN audit_log SONAME 'audit_log.so';
2. Configure the Plugin
Add the following configuration to your my.cnf file:
[mysqld]
audit_log_file = /var/log/mysql/audit.log
audit_log_format = JSON
audit_log_strategy = PERFORMANCE
audit_log_policy = QUERIES
3. Customize Logging Settings
Set
audit_log_strategy
to control log flushing (ASYNCHRONOUS, PERFORMANCE, SEMISYNCHRONOUS, SYNCHRONOUS)Adjust
audit_log_buffer_size
to specify the memory buffer size for loggingUse
audit_log_rotate_size
to enable automatic log file rotation based on sizeSet
audit_log_rotations
to limit the number of log files to keep
4. Configure Account Filtering
Include or exclude specific accounts using:
SET GLOBAL audit_log_include_accounts = 'user1@host,root@localhost';
SET GLOBAL audit_log_exclude_accounts = 'user2@%';
5. Database Exclusion
To exclude specific databases, add to my.cnf:
audit_log_exclude_databases=database_name
6. Monitor and Analyze Logs
Review the audit log file (default location: ${data_dir}/audit.log)
Use tools to parse and analyze JSON-formatted logs
7. Final Steps
Restart the MySQL server to apply configuration changes
Regularly review and rotate audit logs to manage disk space
Monitor system performance to ensure logging isn't impacting operations
Remember to regularly review and rotate audit logs to manage disk space and maintain optimal database performance.