MySQL Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Starting and Stopping mysql

Problem

You want to start and stop the mysql program.

Solution

Invoke mysql from your command prompt to start it, specifying any connection parameters that may be necessary. To leave mysql, use a QUIT statement.

Discussion

To start the mysql program, try just typing its name at your command-line prompt. If mysql starts up correctly, you’ll see a short message, followed by a mysql> prompt that indicates the program is ready to accept statements. To illustrate, here’s what the welcome message looks like (to save space, I won’t show it in any further examples):

%mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 18427 to server version: 5.0.27-log

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

If you invoke mysql and you get an error message that it cannot be found or is an invalid command, that means your command interpreter doesn’t know where mysql is installed. See What to Do if mysql Cannot Be Found for instructions on setting the PATH environment variable that your command interpreter uses to find commands.

If mysql tries to start but exits immediately with an “access denied” message, you need to specify connection parameters. The most commonly needed parameters are the host to connect to (the host that runs the MySQL server), your MySQL username, and a password. For example:

%mysql -h localhost -p -u cbuser
Enter password: cbpass

If you don’t have a MySQL username and password, you must obtain permission ...