I have a new Ubuntu Linux Server 64bit 10.04 LTS.
A default install of Mysql with replication turned on appears to be leaking memory.
However, we’ve tried going back to an earlier version and memory is still leaking but I can’t tell where.
What tools/techniques can I use to pinpoint where memory is leaking so that I can rectify the problem?
Valgrind, http://valgrind.org/, can be very useful in these situations. It runs on unmodified executables but it does help tremendously if you can install the debugging symbols. Be sure to use the –show-reachable=yes flag as the leaked memory may still be reachable in some way but just not the way you want it. Also –trace-children in case of a fork. You’ll likely have to track down in the start-up script where the executable is called and then add something like the following:
The man page has lots of other potentially useful options.
Have you tried the MySQL mailing list? Something like this would certainly be of interest to them if you can reproduce it in a straightforward manner.