MusicBrainz Database Mirror

This repository now contains a collection of scripts for managing a replica of the MusicBrainz database.

The main motivation for these scripts is to be able to customize your database. If you don't need such customizations, it might be easier to use the replication tools provided by MusicBrainz itself.

Installation

You need to have Python 3.x installed on your system. You can use pipx to install this package:

sudo apt install python3 pipx
pipx install 'mbslave'

There are two ways to configure the application.

1. You can use a config file:

   curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/acoustid/mbslave/main/mbslave.conf.default -o mbslave.conf
   vim mbslave.conf
   

   By default, the mbslave script will look for the config file in the current directory. If you want it to find it from anywhere, either save it to /etc/mbslave.conf or set the MBSLAVE_CONFIG environment variable. For example::

   export MBSLAVE_CONFIG=/usr/local/etc/mbslave.conf
   

2. Alternativelly, you can use using environment variables:

   export MBSLAVE_DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   export MBSLAVE_DB_PORT=5432
   export MBSLAVE_DB_NAME=musicbrainz
   export MBSLAVE_DB_USER=musicbrainz
   export MBSLAVE_DB_PASSWORD=XXX
   export MBSLAVE_DB_ADMIN_USER=postgres
   export MBSLAVE_DB_ADMIN_PASSWORD=XXX
   

Database Setup

If you are starting from scratch and want a full copy of the MusicBrainz database, you can use the mbslave init command. This will create a new database and populate it with the latest data from the MusicBrainz database:

mbslave init --create-user --create-database

This requires that you have PostgreSQL running and configured in a way, so that mbslave can connect to it both using a regular account as well as superuser account. How you do that depends on your environment.

The other option is to create the database manually and use the mbslave psql to apply the scripts from MusicBrainz. In this case you are expected to know what you are doing.

Database Replication

You can also keep the database up-to-date by applying incrementa changes.

You need get an API token from the MetaBrainz website and you need to either add it to mbslave.conf or set the MBSLAVE_MUSICBRAINZ_TOKEN environment variable.

After that, you can use the mbslave sync command to download the latest updates:

mbslave sync

Schema Upgrade

When the MusicBrainz database schema changes, the replication will stop working. This is usually announced on the MusicBrainz blog. When it happens, you need to upgrade the database.

Release 2024-05-13 (29)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/29.all.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 29;' | mbslave psql

Release 2023-05-22 (28)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/28.all.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 28;' | mbslave psql

Release 2022-05-16 (27)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/27.mirror.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 27;' | mbslave psql

Release 2021-05-17 (26)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/26.slave.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 26;' | mbslave psql

2020-05-18 Upgrade to PostgreSQL 12

These steps are recommended even if you were already running on Postgres 12 before MusicBrainz moved to make PostgreSQL 12 the minimal supported version.

Run the pre-upgrade script:

mbslave psql -f updates/20200518-pg12-before-upgrade.sql

If not already on PostgreSQL 12, upgrade your cluster now (depending on your OS, using pg_upgradecluster or pg_upgrade)

After upgrading, or if already on PostgreSQL 12, run:

mbslave psql -f updates/20200518-pg12-after-upgrade.sql

Release 2019-05-14 (25)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/25.slave.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 25;' | mbslave psql

Release 2017-05-25 (24)

Run the upgrade scripts:

mbslave psql -f updates/schema-change/24.slave.sql
echo 'UPDATE replication_control SET current_schema_sequence = 24;' | mbslave psql

Tips and Tricks

Single Database Schema

MusicBrainz uses a number of schemas by default. If you are embedding the MusicBrainz database into an existing database for your application, it's convenient to merge them all into a single schema. That can be done by changing your config like this:

[schemas]
musicbrainz=musicbrainz
statistics=musicbrainz
cover_art_archive=musicbrainz
wikidocs=musicbrainz
documentation=musicbrainz

After this, you only need to create the "musicbrainz" schema and import all the tables there.

Full Import Schema Upgrade

You can use the schema mapping feature to do zero-downtime upgrade of the database with full data import. You can temporarily map all schemas to e.g. "musicbrainz_NEW", import your new database there and then rename it:

echo 'BEGIN; ALTER SCHEMA musicbrainz RENAME TO musicbrainz_OLD; ALTER SCHEMA musicbrainz_NEW RENAME TO musicbrainz; COMMIT;' | mbslave psql -S