mysqld_safe
MYSQLD_SAFE(1) MySQL Database System MYSQLD_SAFE(1)
NAME
mysqld_safe - MySQL server startup script
safe_mysqld - MySQL server startup script
SYNOPSIS
mysqld_safe options
DESCRIPTION
mysqld_safe is the recommended way to start a mysqld server on Unix and
NetWare. mysqld_safe adds some safety features such as restarting the
server when an error occurs and logging runtime information to an error
log file. NetWare-specific behaviors are listed later in this section.
Note: Before MySQL 4.0, mysqld_safe is named safe_mysqld. To preserve
backward compatibility, MySQL binary distributions include safe_mysqld
as a symbolic link to mysqld_safe until MySQL 5.1.
By default, mysqld_safe tries to start an executable named mysqld-max
if it exists, and mysqld otherwise. Be aware of the implications of
this behavior:
o On Linux, the MySQL-Max RPM relies on this mysqld_safe behavior. The
RPM installs an executable named mysqld-max, which causes
mysqld_safe to automatically use that executable rather than mysqld
from that point on.
o If you install a MySQL-Max distribution that includes a server named
mysqld-max, and then upgrade later to a non-Max version of MySQL,
mysqld_safe will still attempt to run the old mysqld-max server. If
you perform such an upgrade, you should manually remove the old
mysqld-max server to ensure that mysqld_safe runs the new mysqld
server.
To override the default behavior and specify explicitly the name of the server
you want to run, specify a --mysqld or --mysqld-version option to mysqld_safe.
You can also use --ledir to indicate the directory where mysqld_safe should
look for the server.
Many of the options to mysqld_safe are the same as the options to mysqld. See
the section called "COMMAND OPTIONS".
All options specified to mysqld_safe on the command line are passed to mysqld.
If you want to use any options that are specific to mysqld_safe and that
mysqld does not support, do not specify them on the command line. Instead,
list them in the [mysqld_safe] group of an option file. See Section 3.2,
"Using Option Files".
mysqld_safe reads all options from the [mysqld], [server], and [mysqld_safe]
sections in option files. For backward compatibility, it also reads
[safe_mysqld] sections, although you should rename such sections to
[mysqld_safe] when you begin using MySQL 4.0 or later.
mysqld_safe supports the following options:
o --autoclose
(NetWare only) On NetWare, mysqld_safe provides a screen presence. When you
unload (shut down) the mysqld_safe NLM, the screen does not by default go
away. Instead, it prompts for user input:
*<NLM has terminated; Press any key to close the screen>*
If you want NetWare to close the screen automatically instead, use the
--autoclose option to mysqld_safe.
o --basedir=path
The path to the MySQL installation directory.
o --core-file-size=size
The size of the core file that mysqld should be able to create. The option
value is passed to ulimit -c.
o --datadir=path
The path to the data directory.
o --defaults-extra-file=path
The name of an option file to be read in addition to the usual option
files. This must be the first option on the command line if it is used.
o --defaults-file=file_name
The name of an option file to be read instead of the usual option files.
This must be the first option on the command line if it is used.
o --err-log=file_name
The old form of the --log-error option, to be used before MySQL 4.0.
o --ledir=path
If mysqld_safe cannot find the server, use this option to indicate the
pathname to the directory where the server is located.
o --log-error=file_name
Write the error log to the given file. See Section 10.1, "The Error Log".
o --mysqld=prog_name
The name of the server program (in the ledir directory) that you want to
start. This option is needed if you use the MySQL binary distribution but
have the data directory outside of the binary distribution. If mysqld_safe
cannot find the server, use the --ledir option to indicate the pathname to
the directory where the server is located.
o --mysqld-version=suffix
This option is similar to the --mysqld option, but you specify only the
suffix for the server program name. The basename is assumed to be mysqld.
For example, if you use --mysqld-version=max, mysqld_safe starts the
mysqld-max program in the ledir directory. If the argument to
--mysqld-version is empty, mysqld_safe uses mysqld in the ledir directory.
o --nice=priority
Use the nice program to set the server's scheduling priority to the given
value. This option was added in MySQL 4.0.14.
o --no-defaults
Do not read any option files. This must be the first option on the command
line if it is used.
o --open-files-limit=count
The number of files that mysqld should be able to open. The option value is
passed to ulimit -n. Note that you need to start mysqld_safe as root for
this to work properly.
o --pid-file=file_name
The pathname of the process ID file.
o --port=port_num
The port number that the server should use when listening for TCP/IP
connections. The port number must be 1024 or higher unless the server is
started by the root system user.
o --socket=path
The Unix socket file that the server should use when listening for local
connections.
o --timezone=timezone
Set the TZ time zone environment variable to the given option value.
Consult your operating system documentation for legal time zone
specification formats.
o --user={user_name|user_id}
Run the mysqld server as the user having the name user_name or the numeric
user ID user_id. ("User" in this context refers to a system login account,
not a MySQL user listed in the grant tables.)
If you execute mysqld_safe with the --defaults-file or --defaults-extra-option
option to name an option file, the option must be the first one given on the
command line or the option file will not be used. For example, this command
will not use the named option file:
mysql> mysqld_safe --port=port_num --defaults-file=file_name
Instead, use the following command:
mysql> mysqld_safe --defaults-file=file_name --port=port_num
The mysqld_safe script is written so that it normally can start a server that
was installed from either a source or a binary distribution of MySQL, even
though these types of distributions typically install the server in slightly
different locations. (See Section 1.5, "Installation Layouts".) mysqld_safe
expects one of the following conditions to be true:
o The server and databases can be found relative to the working directory
(the directory from which mysqld_safe is invoked). For binary
distributions, mysqld_safe looks under its working directory for bin and
data directories. For source distributions, it looks for libexec and var
directories. This condition should be met if you execute mysqld_safe from
your MySQL installation directory (for example, /usr/local/mysql for a
binary distribution).
o If the server and databases cannot be found relative to the working
directory, mysqld_safe attempts to locate them by absolute pathnames.
Typical locations are /usr/local/libexec and /usr/local/var. The actual
locations are determined from the values configured into the distribution
at the time it was built. They should be correct if MySQL is installed in
the location specified at configuration time.
Because mysqld_safe tries to find the server and databases relative to its own
working directory, you can install a binary distribution of MySQL anywhere, as
long as you run mysqld_safe from the MySQL installation directory:
shell> cd mysql_installation_directory
shell> bin/mysqld_safe &
If mysqld_safe fails, even when invoked from the MySQL installation directory,
you can specify the --ledir and --datadir options to indicate the directories
in which the server and databases are located on your system.
Normally, you should not edit the mysqld_safe script. Instead, configure
mysqld_safe by using command-line options or options in the [mysqld_safe]
section of a my.cnf option file. In rare cases, it might be necessary to edit
mysqld_safe to get it to start the server properly. However, if you do this,
your modified version of mysqld_safe might be overwritten if you upgrade MySQL
in the future, so you should make a copy of your edited version that you can
reinstall.
On NetWare, mysqld_safe is a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) that is ported from
the original Unix shell script. It starts the server as follows:
1. Runs a number of system and option checks.
2. Runs a check on MyISAM and ISAM tables.
3. Provides a screen presence for the MySQL server.
4. Starts mysqld, monitors it, and restarts it if it terminates in error.
5. Sends error messages from mysqld to the host_name.err file in the data
directory.
6. Sends mysqld_safe screen output to the host_name.safe file in the data
directory.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1997-2006 MySQL AB
This documentation is NOT distributed under a GPL license. Use of this
documentation is subject to the following terms: You may create a
printed copy of this documentation solely for your own personal use.
Conversion to other formats is allowed as long as the actual content is
not altered or edited in any way. You shall not publish or distribute
this documentation in any form or on any media, except if you
distribute the documentation in a manner similar to how MySQL
disseminates it (that is, electronically for download on a Web site
with the software) or on a CD-ROM or similar medium, provided however
that the documentation is disseminated together with the software on
the same medium. Any other use, such as any dissemination of printed
copies or use of this documentation, in whole or in part, in another
publication, requires the prior written consent from an authorized
representative of MySQL AB. MySQL AB reserves any and all rights to
this documentation not expressly granted above.
Please email <docs@mysql.com> for more information.
SEE ALSO
isamchk(1), isamlog(1), msql2mysql(1), myisam_ftdump(1), myisamchk(1),
myisamlog(1), myisampack(1), mysql(1), mysql.server(1),
mysql_config(1), mysql_explain_log(1), mysql_fix_privilege_tables(1),
mysql_zap(1), mysqlaccess(1), mysqladmin(1), mysqlbinlog(1),
mysqlcheck(1), mysqld(1), mysqld(8), mysqld_multi(1), mysqldump(1),
mysqlhotcopy(1), mysqlimport(1), mysqlshow(1), pack_isam(1), perror(1),
replace(1), safe_mysqld(1)
For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual, which
may already be installed locally and which is also available online at
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.
AUTHOR
MySQL AB (http://www.mysql.com/). This software comes with no
warranty.
MySQL 4.1 11/02/2006 MYSQLD_SAFE(1)
