Managing & Using MySQL, 2nd Edition

File Content

All the configuration files share the same format. Example 4-1 is a sample configuration file. Much of it should be fairly straightforward, but we will take a moment to dissect the file.

Example 4-1. A sample MySQL configuration file

# Example mysql options file.
#
# These options go to all clients
[client]
password      = my_password
port          = 3306
socket        = /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock


# These options go to the mysqld server
[mysqld]
port          = 3306
socket        = /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
skip-locking
set-variable  = max_allowed_packet=1M

The first three lines beginning with # are comments. The MySQL configuration file format supports two kinds of comments: # and ;. MySQL ignores any data appearing after a pound sign or a semicolon until the end of the line on which it appears.

The next line indicates the start of a section:

[client]

This format is actually one you may be familiar with if you have played with Samba or Windows INI configuration. A MySQL configuration file contains sections with configuration options that apply only to that section. MySQL configuration files contain two sections: client and mysqld.

The lines appearing after a section marker support the named section until the end of the file is reached or another group is encountered. This client section contains three configuration items for the client tools. The first specifies the default password:

password      = my_password

This option is equivalent to using the command-line option --password=my_password . As a general ...