4.2.2.3 Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling

Most MySQL programs that support option files handle the following options. Because these options affect option-file handling, they must be given on the command line and not in an option file. To work properly, each of these options must be given before other options, with these exceptions:

• --print-defaults may be used immediately after --defaults-file, --defaults-extra-file, or --login-path.

• On Windows, if the server is started with the --defaults-file and --install options, --install must be first. See Section 2.3.4.8, “Starting MySQL as a Windows Service”.

When specifying file names as option values, avoid the use of the ~ shell metacharacter because it might not be interpreted as you expect.

Table 4.3 Option File Option Summary

Option Name	Description
--defaults-extra-file	Read named option file in addition to usual option files
--defaults-file	Read only named option file
--defaults-group-suffix	Option group suffix value
--login-path	Read login path options from .mylogin.cnf
--no-defaults	Read no option files

• --defaults-extra-file=file_name

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-extra-file=filename
  Type	File name
  Default Value	[none]

  Read this option file after the global option file but (on Unix) before the user option file and (on all platforms) before the login path file. (For information about the order in which option files are used, see Section 4.2.2.2, “Using Option Files”.) If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. If file_name is not an absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current directory.

  See the introduction to this section regarding constraints on the position in which this option may be specified.

• --defaults-file=file_name

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-file=filename
  Type	File name
  Default Value	[none]

  Read only the given option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. file_name is interpreted relative to the current directory if given as a relative path name rather than a full path name.

  Exception: Even with --defaults-file, client programs read .mylogin.cnf.

  See the introduction to this section regarding constraints on the position in which this option may be specified.

• --defaults-group-suffix=str

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-group-suffix=string
  Type	String
  Default Value	[none]

  Read not only the usual option groups, but also groups with the usual names and a suffix of str. For example, the mysql client normally reads the [client] and [mysql] groups. If this option is given as --defaults-group-suffix=_other, mysql also reads the [client_other] and [mysql_other] groups.

• --login-path=name

  Command-Line Format	--login-path=name
  Type	String
  Default Value	[none]

  Read options from the named login path in the .mylogin.cnf login path file. A “login path” is an option group containing options that specify which MySQL server to connect to and which account to authenticate as. To create or modify a login path file, use the mysql_config_editor utility. See Section 4.6.6, “mysql_config_editor — MySQL Configuration Utility”.

  A client program reads the option group corresponding to the named login path, in addition to option groups that the program reads by default. Consider this command:

  mysql --login-path=mypath

  By default, the mysql client reads the [client] and [mysql] option groups. So for the command shown, mysql reads [client] and [mysql] from other option files, and [client], [mysql], and [mypath] from the login path file.

  Client programs read the login path file even when the --no-defaults option is used.

  To specify an alternate login path file name, set the MYSQL_TEST_LOGIN_FILE environment variable.

  See the introduction to this section regarding constraints on the position in which this option may be specified.

• --no-defaults

  Command-Line Format	--no-defaults
  Type	Boolean
  Default Value	false

  Do not read any option files. If program startup fails due to reading unknown options from an option file, --no-defaults can be used to prevent them from being read.

  The exception is that client programs read the .mylogin.cnf login path file, if it exists, even when --no-defaults is used. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way than on the command line even if --no-defaults is present. To create .mylogin.cnf, use the mysql_config_editor utility. See Section 4.6.6, “mysql_config_editor — MySQL Configuration Utility”.

• --print-defaults

  Command-Line Format	--print-defaults
  Type	Boolean
  Default Value	false

  Print the program name and all options that it gets from option files. Password values are masked.

  See the introduction to this section regarding constraints on the position in which this option may be specified.