Incompatibility with MySQL 9.6: md5() function removed, breaking Pulse tables

[colq2]

Pulse Version

• All

Laravel Version

• All

PHP Version

• All

Livewire Version

• All

Database Driver & Version

MySQL 9.6

Description

MySQL removed the md5() function in version 9.6:
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/9.6/en/encryption-functions.html
vs
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/9.5/en/encryption-functions.html

Laravel Pulse creates tables with virtual columns that use the md5() function. This causes MySQL to fail to start when upgrading to 9.6 if Pulse tables exist.

If you (like me) just blindly upgrade homebrew and restart, mysql wont startup anymore.

Example output of mysql error log:

[Warning] [MY-015638] [Server] Error MY-001305 occurred while checking table-definitions: FUNCTION mysql.md5 does not exist
[Warning] [MY-015638] [Server] Error MY-001033 occurred while checking table-definitions: Incorrect information in file: './ws/pulse_entries.frm'
[ERROR] [MY-013135] [Server] Incorrect information in file: './ws/pulse_entries.frm'

If you want to migrate pulse tables in mysql 9.6 this wont work.

Steps To Reproduce

If tables already exists in the databse:
Upgrade to mysql 9.6

If pulse is not installed yet:
Install pulse and try to migrate.

[cerw]

This worked for me:

diff --git a/database/migrations/2025_05_26_092209_create_pulse_tables.php b/database/migrations/2025_05_26_092209_create_pulse_tables.php
index a1da3fc..9dba473 100644
--- a/database/migrations/2025_05_26_092209_create_pulse_tables.php
+++ b/database/migrations/2025_05_26_092209_create_pulse_tables.php
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ public function up(): void
             $table->string('type');
             $table->mediumText('key');
             match ($this->driver()) {
-                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->virtualAs('unhex(md5(`key`))'),
+                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->nullable(),
                 'pgsql' => $table->uuid('key_hash')->storedAs('md5("key")::uuid'),
                 'sqlite' => $table->string('key_hash'),
             };
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public function up(): void
             $table->string('type');
             $table->mediumText('key');
             match ($this->driver()) {
-                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->virtualAs('unhex(md5(`key`))'),
+                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->nullable(),
                 'pgsql' => $table->uuid('key_hash')->storedAs('md5("key")::uuid'),
                 'sqlite' => $table->string('key_hash'),
             };
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public function up(): void
             $table->string('type');
             $table->mediumText('key');
             match ($this->driver()) {
-                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->virtualAs('unhex(md5(`key`))'),
+                'mariadb', 'mysql' => $table->char('key_hash', 16)->charset('binary')->nullable(),
                 'pgsql' => $table->uuid('key_hash')->storedAs('md5("key")::uuid'),
                 'sqlite' => $table->string('key_hash'),
             };

[roger-hermasch]

@cerw The addition of ->nullable() is not necessary, I think you should remove it. The key of your "fix" is to just get rid of the virtualAs including the disallowed md5.

I did the same and performance should be fine, anyways maybe there is a better solution for this.

[chimit]

Looks like the easiest way is to enable hash functions in MySQL 9.6 by running:

INSTALL COMPONENT 'file://component_classic_hashing';