The Clone Plugin 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. • [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 Configuring an Encrypted Connection for Cloning. Note By default, user-created  InnoDB  tables and tablespaces that reside in the data directory on the donor MySQL server instance are cloned to the data directory on the recipient MySQL server instance. If the  DATA DIRECTORY [=] ’ clone_dir ’ clause is specified, they are cloned to the specified directory. User-created  InnoDB  tables and tablespaces that reside outside of the data directory on the donor MySQL server instance are cloned to the same path on the recipient MySQL server instance. An error is reported if a table or tablespace already exists. By default, the  InnoDB  system tablespace, redo logs, and undo tablespaces are cloned to the same locations that are configured on the donor (as defined by  innodb_data_home_dir  and  innodb_data_file_path , innodb_log_group_home_dir , and  innodb_undo_directory , respectively). If the  DATA DIRECTORY [=] ’ clone_dir ’  clause is specified, those tablespaces and logs are cloned to the specified directory. To perform a cloning operation, the clone plugin must be active on both the donor and recipient MySQL server instances. For installation instructions, see Section 5.6.7.1, “Installing the Clone Plugin” . A MySQL user on the donor and recipient is required for executing the cloning operation (the “clone user” ). Remote Cloning Prerequisites •On the donor, the clone user requires the  BACKUP_ADMIN  privilege for accessing and transferring data from the donor, and for blocking DDL during the cloning operation. •On the recipient, the clone user requires the  CLONE_ADMIN  privilege for replacing recipient data, blocking DDL during the cloning operation, and automatically restarting the server. The  CLONE_ADMIN privilege includes  BACKUP_ADMIN  and  SHUTDOWN  privileges implicitly. Instructions for creating the clone user and granting the required privileges are included in the remote cloning example that follows this prerequisite information. The following prerequisites are checked when the  CLONE INSTANCE  statement is executed: •The donor and recipient must have the same MySQL server version. The clone plugin is supported in MYSQL 8.0.17 and higher. mysql> SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ’version’;  +---------------+--------+ | Variable_name | Value | 1114