Syntax:
CLONE clone_action

clone_action: {
    LOCAL DATA DIRECTORY [=] 'clone_dir';
  | INSTANCE FROM 'user'@'host':port
    IDENTIFIED BY 'password'
    [DATA DIRECTORY [=] 'clone_dir']
    [REQUIRE [NO] SSL]
}

The CLONE statement is used to clone data locally or from a remote
MySQL server instance. To use CLONE syntax, the clone plugin must be
installed. See
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/clone-plugin.html.

CLONE LOCAL DATA DIRECTORY syntax clones data from the local MySQL data
directory to a directory on the same server or node where the MySQL
server instance runs. The 'clone_dir' directory is the full path of the
local directory that data is cloned to. An absolute path is required.
The specified directory must not exist, but the specified path must be
an existent path. The MySQL server requires the necessary write access
to create the specified directory. For more information, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/clone-plugin-local.html.

CLONE INSTANCE syntax clones data from a remote MySQL server instance
(the donor) and transfers it to the MySQL instance where the cloning
operation was initiated (the recipient).

o user is the clone user on the donor MySQL server instance.

o host is the hostname address of the donor MySQL server instance.
  Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address format is not supported.
  An alias to the IPv6 address can be used instead. An IPv4 address can
  be used as is.

o port is the port number of the donor MySQL server instance. (The X
  Protocol port specified by mysqlx_port is not supported. Connecting
  to the donor MySQL server instance through MySQL Router is also not
  supported.)

o IDENTIFIED BY 'password' specifies the password of the clone user on
  the donor MySQL server instance.

o DATA DIRECTORY [=] 'clone_dir' is an optional clause used to specify
  a directory on the recipient for the data you are cloning. Use this
  option if you do not want to remove existing data in the recipient
  data directory. An absolute path is required, and the directory must
  not exist. The MySQL server must have the necessary write access to
  create the directory.

  When the optional DATA DIRECTORY [=] 'clone_dir' clause is not used,
  a cloning operation removes existing data in the recipient data
  directory, replaces it with the cloned data, and automatically
  restarts the server afterward.

o [REQUIRE [NO] SSL] explicitly specifies whether an encrypted
  connection is to be used or not when transferring cloned data over
  the network. An error is returned if the explicit specification
  cannot be satisfied. If an SSL clause is not specified, clone
  attempts to establish an encrypted connection by default, falling
  back to an insecure connection if the secure connection attempt
  fails. A secure connection is required when cloning encrypted data
  regardless of whether this clause is specified. For more information,
  see
  https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/clone-plugin-remote.html#clon
  e-plugin-remote-ssl.

For additional information about cloning data from a remote MySQL
server instance, see
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/clone-plugin-remote.html.

URL: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/clone.html

