You can remove an instance from a cluster at any time should you wish to do so. This can be done with the Cluster.removeInstance(instance) method, as in the following example:

mysql-js> cluster.removeInstance('root@localhost:3310')

The instance will be removed from the InnoDB cluster. Depending on the instance
being the Seed or not, the Metadata session might become invalid. If so, please
start a new session to the Metadata Storage R/W instance.

Attempting to leave from the Group Replication group...

The instance 'localhost:3310' was successfully removed from the cluster.

You can optionally pass in the interactive option to control whether you are prompted to confirm the removal of the instance from the cluster. In interactive mode, you are prompted to continue with the removal of the instance (or not) in case it is not reachable. The cluster.removeInstance() operation ensures that the instance is removed from the metadata of all the cluster members which are ONLINE, and the instance itself.

When the instance being removed has transactions which still need to be applied, AdminAPI waits for up to the number of seconds configured by the MySQL Shell dba.gtidWaitTimeout option for transactions (GTIDs) to be applied. The MySQL Shell dba.gtidWaitTimeout option has a default value of 60 seconds, see Section 10.4, “Configuring MySQL Shell Options” for information on changing the default. If the timeout value defined by dba.gtidWaitTimeout is reached when waiting for transactions to be applied and the force option is false (or not defined) then an error is issued and the remove operation is aborted. If the timeout value defined by dba.gtidWaitTimeout is reached when waiting for transactions to be applied and the force option is set to true then the operation continues without an error and removes the instance from the cluster.

To dissolve an InnoDB Cluster you connect to a read-write instance, for example the primary in a single-primary cluster, and use the Cluster.dissolve() command. This removes all metadata and configuration associated with the cluster, and disables Group Replication on the instances. Any data that was replicated between the instances is not removed.

The Cluster.dissolve() operation can only configure instances which are ONLINE or reachable. If members of a cluster cannot be reached by the member where you issued the Cluster.dissolve() command you have to decide how the dissolve operation should proceed. If there is any chance you want to rejoin any instances that are identified as missing from the cluster, it is strongly recommended to cancel the dissolve operation and first bring the missing instances back online, before proceeding with a dissolve operation. This ensures that all instances can have their metadata updated correctly, and that there is no chance of a split-brain situation. However, if the instances from the cluster which cannot be reached have permanently left the cluster there could be no choice but to force the dissolve operation, which means that the missing instances are ignored and only online instances are affected by the operation.

In interactive mode, if members of a cluster are not reachable during a dissolve operation then an interactive prompt is displayed, for example:

mysql-js> Cluster.dissolve()
The cluster still has the following registered instances:
{
    "clusterName": "testCluster",
    "defaultReplicaSet": {
        "name": "default",
        "topology": [
            {
                "address": "ic-1:3306",
                "label": "ic-1:3306",
                "role": "HA"
            },
            {
                "address": "ic-2:3306",
                "label": "ic-2:3306",
                "role": "HA"
            },
            {
                "address": "ic-3:3306",
                "label": "ic-3:3306",
                "role": "HA"
            }
        ]
    }
}
WARNING: You are about to dissolve the whole cluster and lose the high
availability features provided by it. This operation cannot be reverted. All
members will be removed from the cluster and replication will be stopped,
internal recovery user accounts and the cluster metadata will be dropped. User
data will be maintained intact in all instances.

Are you sure you want to dissolve the cluster? [y/N]: y

ERROR: The instance 'ic-2:3306' cannot be removed because it is on a '(MISSING)'
state. Please bring the instance back ONLINE and try to dissolve the cluster
again. If the instance is permanently not reachable, then you can choose to
proceed with the operation and only remove the instance from the Cluster
Metadata.

Do you want to continue anyway (only the instance metadata will be removed)?
[y/N]: y

Instance 'ic-3:3306' is attempting to leave the cluster...  Instance 'ic-1:3306'
is attempting to leave the cluster...

WARNING: The cluster was successfully dissolved, but the following instance was
skipped: 'ic-2:3306'. Please make sure this instance is permanently unavailable
or take any necessary manual action to ensure the cluster is fully dissolved.

In this example, the cluster consisted of three instances, one of which was offline when dissolve was issued. The error is caught, and you are given the choice how to proceed. In this case the missing ic-2 instance is ignored and the reachable members have their metadata updated.

When MySQL Shell is running in non-interactive mode, for example when running a batch file, you can configure the behavior of the Cluster.dissolve() operation using the force option. To force the dissolve operation to ignore any instances which are unreachable, issue:

mysql-js> Cluster.dissolve({force: true})

Any instances which can be reached are removed from the cluster, and any unreachable instances are ignored. The warnings in this section about forcing the removal of missing instances from a cluster apply equally to this technique of forcing the dissolve operation.

You can also use the interactive option with the Cluster.dissolve() operation to override the mode which MySQL Shell is running in, for example to make the interactive prompt appear when running a batch script. For example:

mysql-js> Cluster.dissolve({interactive: true})

The dba.gtidWaitTimeout MySQL Shell option configures how long the Cluster.dissolve() operation waits for cluster transactions to be applied before removing a target instance from the cluster, but only if the target instance is ONLINE. An error is issued if the timeout is reached when waiting for cluster transactions to be applied on any of the instances being removed, except if force: true is used, which skips the error in that case.

By default, an InnoDB Cluster runs in single-primary mode, where the cluster has one primary server that accepts read and write queries (R/W), and all of the remaining instances in the cluster accept only read queries (R/O). When you configure a cluster to run in multi-primary mode, all of the instances in the cluster are primaries, which means that they accept both read and write queries (R/W). If a cluster has all of its instances running MySQL server version 8.0.15 or later, you can make changes to the topology of the cluster while the cluster is online. In previous versions it was necessary to completely dissolve and re-create the cluster to make the configuration changes. This uses the group action coordinator exposed through the UDFs described at Configuring an Online Group, and as such you should observe the rules for configuring online groups.

Usually a single-primary cluster elects a new primary when the current primary leaves the cluster unexpectedly, for example due to an unexpected halt. The election process is normally used to choose which of the current secondaries becomes the new primary. To override the election process and force a specific server to become the new primary, use the Cluster.setPrimaryInstance(instance) function, where instance specifies the connection to the instance which should become the new primary. This enables you to configure the underlying Group Replication group to choose a specific instance as the new primary, bypassing the election process.

You can change the mode (sometimes described as the topology) which a cluster is running in between single-primary and multi-primary using the following operations: