MySQL Reference Manual

MySQL Client-Side Scripts and Utilities

Overview of the Client-Side Scripts and Utilities

All MySQL clients that communicate with the server using the mysqlclient library use the following environment variables:

Name	Description
MYSQL_UNIX_PORT	The default socket; used for connections to localhost
MYSQL_TCP_PORT	The default TCP/IP port
MYSQL_PWD	The default password
MYSQL_DEBUG	Debug-trace options when debugging
TMPDIR	The directory where temporary tables/files are created

Use of MYSQL_PWD is insecure. See Section 4.2.8.

The mysql client uses the file named in the MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable to save the command-line history. The default value for the history file is $HOME/.mysql_history, where $HOME is the value of the HOME environment variable. See Appendix E.

All MySQL programs take many different options. However, every MySQL program provides a --help option that you can use to get a full description of the program’s different options. For example, try mysql --help.

You can override default options for all standard client programs with an option file. See Section 4.1.2.

The following list briefly describes the MySQL programs:

myisamchk

Utility to describe, check, optimise, and repair MySQL tables. Because myisamchk has many functions, it is described in its own chapter. See Chapter 4.

make_binary_distribution

Makes a binary release of a compiled MySQL. This could be sent by FTP to /pub/mysql/Incoming on support.mysql.com for the convenience of other MySQL ...