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Starting and Stopping MySQL :: 4 MySQL Server and Server-Startup Programs :: 4.3 mysql.server — MySQL Server Startup Script
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4.3. mysql.server — MySQL Server Startup Script

MySQL distributions on Unix include a script named mysql.server. It can be used on systems such as Linux and Solaris that use System V-style run directories to start and stop system services. It is also used by the Mac OS X Startup Item for MySQL.

mysql.server can be found in the support-files directory under your MySQL installation directory or in a MySQL source distribution.

If you use the Linux server RPM package (MySQL-server-VERSION.rpm), the mysql.server script will be installed in the /etc/init.d directory with the name mysql. You need not install it manually. See Installing MySQL from RPM Packages on Linux, for more information on the Linux RPM packages.

Some vendors provide RPM packages that install a startup script under a different name such as mysqld.

If you install MySQL from a source distribution or using a binary distribution format that does not install mysql.server automatically, you can install it manually. Instructions are provided in Starting and Stopping MySQL Automatically.

mysql.server reads options from the [mysql.server] and [mysqld] sections of option files. For backward compatibility, it also reads [mysql_server] sections, although you should rename such sections to [mysql.server] when using MySQL 5.0.

mysql.server supports the following options.

  • --basedir=path

    The path to the MySQL installation directory.

  • --datadir=path

    The path to the MySQL data directory.

  • --pid-file=file_name

    The path name of the file in which the server should write its process ID.

  • --service-startup-timeout=file_name

    How long in seconds to wait for confirmation of server startup. If the server does not start within this time, mysql.server exits with an error. The default value is 900. A value of 0 means not to wait at all for startup. Negative values mean to wait forever (no timeout). This option was added in MySQL 5.0.40. Before that, a value of 900 is always used.

  • --use-mysqld_safe

    Use mysqld_safe to start the server. This is the default. This option was added in MySQL 5.0.4.

  • --use-manager

    Use Instance Manager to start the server. This option was added in MySQL 5.0.4.

  • --user=user_name

    The login user name to use for running mysqld. This option was added in MySQL 5.0.4.