Delete from a large table in chunks

Example output

delete from x where id < 1;

select sleep(.25);

delete from x where id < 50001;

select sleep(.25);

delete from x where id < 100001;

select sleep(.25);

generate_sql.py

import sys
table = sys.argv[1]
start_id = int(sys.argv[2])
total_size = int(sys.argv[3])

CHUNK = 50000

for offset in range(1 + (total_size // CHUNK)):
    print "delete from %s where id < %s;\n" % (table, start_id + (offset * CHUNK))
    print "select sleep(.25);\n"

gistfile1.txt

python generate_sql.py your_table start_id max_id > statements.sql

mysql -h x.com -u y -p < statements.sql