We would like to request the addition of support for the utf8mb4 character set in the MySQL database for the Release application.
Apart from the fact that utf8mb3 is expected to be removed somewhere in a future (unannounced) MySQL version ; and that its replacement utf8mb4 has exactly the same value for all characters in the BMP ; our main reason for asking for an official support is that a major cloud provider has disabled support for utf8mb3 in its MySQL database offering - which we are using.
Our understanding of the current situation is that it prevents Digital.ai Release to be installed -in a supported way- on this (major) cloud provider.
In details:
The current documentation for Release states that MySQL version 8.0 is supported and that the only supported character set (by Release) is utf8mb3 :
https://docs.digital.ai/bundle/devops-release-version-v.23.1/page/release/how-to/configure-the-xl-release-sql-repository-in-a-database.html
https://docs.digital.ai/bundle/devops-release-version-v.24.1/page/release/how-to/configure-the-xl-release-sql-repository-in-a-database.html
However, utf8mb3 is deprecated in MySQL, and utf8mb4 is recommended instead:
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/charset-unicode-utf8mb3.html
This is further acknowledged in the Release documentation which states:
"Note: Character set of utf8mb3 is required, and a warning to move to utf8mb4 can be ignored. Therefore, utf8mb4 is not supported."
However, using either utf8mb3 character set, or a utf8mb3 derived collation on this major cloud provider results in errors of the kind:
"Invalid parameter value: utf8mb3 for: character_set_server allowed values are: big5,dec8,cp850,hp8,koi8r,latin1,latin2,swe7,ascii,ujis,sjis,hebrew,tis620,euckr,koi8u,gb2312,greek,cp1250,gbk,
latin5,armscii8,utf8,ucs2,cp866,keybcs2,macce,macroman,cp852,latin7,utf8mb4,cp1251,utf16,cp1256,cp1257,utf32,
binary,geostd8,cp932,eucjpms"
As a result, we are obliged to use utf8mb4, which is currently unsupported by Release.
Supporting utf8mb4 will ensure better compatibility with diverse character sets, ensure a seamless path to the future versions of MySql, and will allow a supported installation of Digital.ai Release on this major cloud provider.
Besides, we should point out that your other product Digital.ai Deploy does support utf8mb4 : cf https://docs.digital.ai/bundle/devops-deploy-version-v.24.1/page/deploy/how-to/configure-the-xl-deploy-sql-repository.html
Assuming that both product (Release and Deploy) have a common lineage, development history, and team, we can make the hypothesis that there is, in-house, the necessary knowledge to make Release utf8mb4-aware a success.
Thank you for your consideration and support in improving the product.
by: devops p. | 7 months ago | Integrations
Comments
Thank you for the thoughtfully written idea. Our main concern with this change is the data migration.
Our Customer Success team will contact you to arrange a brief call to explore the available options.
We do not plan to support utf8mb4 in the foreseeable future due to specific technical challenges that prevent a smooth migration of the Release database schema to utf8mb4.
We have reached out to you directly to discuss possible solutions for your situation.
Additionally, we have updated the database documentation to reflect this limitation and noted that PostgreSQL is the reference database. We recommend using PostgreSQL for new installations. Detail available here: https://docs.digital.ai/bundle/devops-release-version-v.24.1/page/release/concept/requirements-for-installing-xl-release.html#supported-databases