You can safely replace MySQL with Percona Server without lossing any data. In order to do it, please follow the instructions bellow
- Import Percona GPG key
# apt-key adv --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 1C4CBDCDCD2EFD2A
- Add this to /etc/apt/sources.list, replacing VERSION with the name of your distribution:
deb http://repo.percona.com/apt VERSION main
deb-src http://repo.percona.com/apt VERSION main
- Update the local cache:
apt-get update
- Install Percona packages. When asked please don’t change root password.
apt-get install percona-server-server-5.5 percona-server-client-5.5
- Set Percona Server to auto-start
update-rc.d mysql defaults