InnoDB supports named file formats to improve compatibility between database file formats and various InnoDB versions.
To create new tables that require a new file format, you must
enable the new “Barracuda” file format, using the configuration
parameter innodb_file_format. The
value of this parameter determines whether a newly created table
or index can use compression or the new DYNAMIC row format. If
you omit innodb_file_format or
set it to “Antelope”, you preclude the use of new features that
would make your database inaccessible to the built-in InnoDB in
MySQL 5.1 and prior releases.
You can set the value of
innodb_file_format on the
command line when you start mysqld, or in the
option file my.cnf (Unix operating systems) or
my.ini (Windows). You can also change it
dynamically with the SET GLOBAL statement.
Further information about managing file formats is presented in Section 13.7.4, “InnoDB File Format Management”.