mysql-test-run.pl supports several options that enable you to pass options to other programs.

Each of these options takes a value consisting of one or more comma-separated options:

The --mysqld option tells mysql-test-run.pl to start the mysqld server with the named option added. More than one such extra option may be provided. The following command causes --big-tables and --key_buffer_size=16384 to be passed to mysqld:
```
shell> ./mysql-test-run.pl
         --mysqld=--big-tables
         --mysqld=--key_buffer_size=16384
```
Note how --mysqld needs to be repeated for each server option to add. It does not work to add several server options with one --mysqld even if enclosed in quotation marks, as that will be interpreted as a single server option (including spaces).
The --combination option is similar to --mysqld, but behaves differently. mysql-test-run.pl executes multiple test runs, using the options for each instance of --combination in successive runs. The following command passes --big-tables to mysqld for the first test run, --innodb for the second run and --innodb-file-per-table for the last run:
```
shell> ./mysql-test-run.pl
         --combination=--big-tables
         --combination=--innodb
         --combination=--innodb-file-per-table
```
If --combination is given only once, it behaves similar to --mysqld option.

For test runs specific to a given test suite, an alternative to the use of the --combination option is to create a combinations file in the suite directory. The file should contain a section of options for each test run. For an example, see Controlling the Binary Log Format Used for Tests.

combinations file can support bootstrap variables too. The bootstrap variable has to be passed as a value to the initialize keyword.

For a test specific combinations, an alternative to the use of the --combination option is to create a test_name.combinations file in the test directory.
The --mysqltest option is used to pass extra options to mysqltest.
```
shell> ./mysql-test-run.pl --mysqltest=options
```
For an example, see mysql-test-run.pl — Run MySQL Test Suite.