3.3 Testing the Server

After the data directory is initialized and you have started the server, perform some simple tests to make sure that it works satisfactorily. This section assumes that your current location is the MySQL installation directory and that it has a bin subdirectory containing the MySQL programs used here. If that is not true, adjust the command path names accordingly.

Alternatively, add the bin directory to your PATH environment variable setting. That enables your shell (command interpreter) to find MySQL programs properly, so that you can run a program by typing only its name, not its path name. See Setting Environment Variables.

Use mysqladmin to verify that the server is running. The following commands provide simple tests to check whether the server is up and responding to connections:

$> bin/mysqladmin version
$> bin/mysqladmin variables

If you cannot connect to the server, specify a -u root option to connect as root. If you have assigned a password for the root account already, you'll also need to specify -p on the command line and enter the password when prompted. For example:

$> bin/mysqladmin -u root -p version
Enter password: (enter root password here)

The output from mysqladmin version varies slightly depending on your platform and version of MySQL, but should be similar to that shown here:

$> bin/mysqladmin version
mysqladmin  Ver 14.12 Distrib 5.7.44, for pc-linux-gnu on i686
...
Server version          5.7.44
Protocol version        10
Connection              Localhost via UNIX socket
UNIX socket             /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
Uptime:                 14 days 5 hours 5 min 21 sec
Threads: 1  Questions: 366  Slow queries: 0
Opens: 0  Flush tables: 1  Open tables: 19
Queries per second avg: 0.000

To see what else you can do with mysqladmin, invoke it with the --help option.

Verify that you can shut down the server (include a -p option if the root account has a password already):

$> bin/mysqladmin -u root shutdown

Verify that you can start the server again. Do this by using mysqld_safe or by invoking mysqld directly. For example:

$> bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &

If mysqld_safe fails, see Section 3.2.1, “Troubleshooting Problems Starting the MySQL Server”.

Run some simple tests to verify that you can retrieve information from the server. The output should be similar to that shown here.

Use mysqlshow to see what databases exist:

$> bin/mysqlshow
+--------------------+
|     Databases      |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
| performance_schema |
| sys                |
+--------------------+

The list of installed databases may vary, but always includes at least mysql and information_schema.

If you specify a database name, mysqlshow displays a list of the tables within the database:

$> bin/mysqlshow mysql
Database: mysql
+---------------------------+
|          Tables           |
+---------------------------+
| columns_priv              |
| db                        |
| engine_cost               |
| event                     |
| func                      |
| general_log               |
| gtid_executed             |
| help_category             |
| help_keyword              |
| help_relation             |
| help_topic                |
| innodb_index_stats        |
| innodb_table_stats        |
| ndb_binlog_index          |
| plugin                    |
| proc                      |
| procs_priv                |
| proxies_priv              |
| server_cost               |
| servers                   |
| slave_master_info         |
| slave_relay_log_info      |
| slave_worker_info         |
| slow_log                  |
| tables_priv               |
| time_zone                 |
| time_zone_leap_second     |
| time_zone_name            |
| time_zone_transition      |
| time_zone_transition_type |
| user                      |
+---------------------------+

Use the mysql program to select information from a table in the mysql database:

$> bin/mysql -e "SELECT User, Host, plugin FROM mysql.user" mysql
+------+-----------+-----------------------+
| User | Host      | plugin                |
+------+-----------+-----------------------+
| root | localhost | mysql_native_password |
+------+-----------+-----------------------+

At this point, your server is running and you can access it. To tighten security if you have not yet assigned a password to the initial account, follow the instructions in Section 3.4, “Securing the Initial MySQL Account”.

For more information about mysql, mysqladmin, and mysqlshow, see mysql — The MySQL Command-Line Client, mysqladmin — A MySQL Server Administration Program, and mysqlshow — Display Database, Table, and Column Information.