To create a plugin library, you must provide the required descriptor information that indicates what plugins the library file contains, and write the interface functions for each plugin.
Every server plugin must have a general descriptor that provides
information to the plugin API, and a type-specific descriptor
that provides information about the plugin interface for a given
type of plugin. The structure of the general descriptor is the
same for all plugin types. The structure of the type-specific
descriptor varies among plugin types and is determined by the
requirements of what the plugin needs to do. The server plugin
interface also enables plugins to expose status and system
variables. These variables become visible through the
SHOW STATUS and
SHOW VARIABLES statements and the
You can write plugins in C or C++ (or another language that can use C calling conventions). Plugins are loaded and unloaded dynamically, so your operating system must support dynamic loading and you must have compiled mysqld dynamically (not statically).
A server plugin contains code that becomes part of the running
server, so when you write the plugin, you are bound by any and
all constraints that otherwise apply to writing server code. For
example, you may have problems if you attempt to use functions
libstdc++ library. These constraints
may change in future versions of the server, so it is possible
that server upgrades will require revisions to plugins
originally written for older servers. For information about
these constraints, see
Section 2.11.4, “MySQL Source-Configuration Options”, and
Section 2.11.5, “Dealing with Problems Compiling MySQL”.