What complications should I look out for when converting tables to InnoDB ?

Question

I'm having trouble with a liferay installation that is suddenly (without any code modifications) failing with "dulplicate id" errors. We've identified that the issue may be solved by changing the mysql engine to InnoDB.

I'm planning the change now, but i'm not sure what complications are likely in the process.

I've checked for full text indexes mentioned in this question

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1228672/converting-table-from-myisam-to-innodb

Are there any other likely problems I should

Answer 1

Biggest problem is not having a backup of the database before conversion. With a backup, you can experiment all you like. Naturally you're doing this on a test database, right? (Not a production database.)

Answer 2

Andrew, there are lots of differences between MyISAM and InnoDB, the least of which is the fact that they are controlled by different configuration options in the MySQL conf. There is also the fact that InnoDB is ACID compliant unlike MyISAM. Also, backups cant be done with just copying MYI and MYD files anymore. Then there is the matter of different size requirements, different index types, and different performance characteristics between the two engines.

Even though I like InnoDB is most cases, may I ask what leads you to believe that a switch to InnoDB will solve your problem? and perhaps you should be seeking an alternate answer to THAT question instead of this one?