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.

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.

--help

Display a help message and exit. (Added in MySQL 5.0.3)

--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.

--basedir=path

The path to the MySQL installation directory.

--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.

--datadir=path

The path to the data directory.

--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. As of MySQL 5.0.6, if the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, the server will exit with an error.

--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.

--ledir=path

If mysqld_safe cannot find the server, use this option to indicate the pathname to the directory where the server is located.

--log-error=file_name

Write the error log to the given file. See Section 5.11.1, “The Error Log”.

--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.

--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=debug, mysqld_safe starts the mysqld-debug program in the ledir directory. If the argument to --mysqld-version is empty, mysqld_safe uses mysqld in the ledir directory.

--nice=priority

Use the nice program to set the server's scheduling priority to the given value.

--no-defaults

Do not read any option files. This must be the first option on the command line if it is used.

--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!

--pid-file=file_name

The pathname of the process ID file.

--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.

--socket=path

The Unix socket file that the server should use when listening for local connections.

--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.

--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.)

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).

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.

--basedir=path

The path to the MySQL installation directory.

--datadir=path

The path to the MySQL data directory.

--pid-file=file_name

The pathname 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 username to use for running mysqld. This option was added in MySQL 5.0.4.

--help

Display a help message and exit.

--config-file=file_name

Specify the name of an alternative option file. This affects where mysqld_multi looks for [mysqldN] option groups. Without this option, all options are read from the usual my.cnf file. The option does not affect where mysqld_multi reads its own options, which are always taken from the [mysqld_multi] group in the usual my.cnf file.

--example

Display a sample option file.

--log=file_name

Specify the name of the log file. If the file exists, log output is appended to it.

--mysqladmin=prog_name

The mysqladmin binary to be used to stop servers.

--mysqld=prog_name

The mysqld binary to be used. Note that you can specify mysqld_safe as the value for this option also. If you use mysqld_safe to start the server, you can include the mysqld or ledir options in the corresponding [mysqldN] option group. These options indicate the name of the server that mysqld_safe should start and the pathname of the directory where the server is located. (See the descriptions for these options in Section 5.3.1, “mysqld_safe — MySQL Server Startup Script”.) Example:

[mysqld38]
mysqld = mysqld-debug
ledir  = /opt/local/mysql/libexec

--no-log

Print log information to stdout rather than to the log file. By default, output goes to the log file.

--password=password

The password of the MySQL account to use when invoking mysqladmin. Note that the password value is not optional for this option, unlike for other MySQL programs.

--silent

Silent mode; disable warnings.

--tcp-ip

Connect to each MySQL server via the TCP/IP port instead of the Unix socket file. (If a socket file is missing, the server might still be running, but accessible only via the TCP/IP port.) By default, connections are made using the Unix socket file. This option affects stop and report operations.

--user=user_name

The username of the MySQL account to use when invoking mysqladmin.

--verbose

Be more verbose.

--version

Display version information and exit.

Most important: Before using mysqld_multi be sure that you understand the meanings of the options that are passed to the mysqld servers and why you would want to have separate mysqld processes. Beware of the dangers of using multiple mysqld servers with the same data directory. Use separate data directories, unless you know what you are doing. Starting multiple servers with the same data directory does not give you extra performance in a threaded system. See Section 5.12, “Running Multiple MySQL Servers on the Same Machine”.

Important: Make sure that the data directory for each server is fully accessible to the Unix account that the specific mysqld process is started as. Do not use the Unix root account for this, unless you know what you are doing. See Section 5.6.5, “How to Run MySQL as a Normal User”.

Make sure that the MySQL account used for stopping the mysqld servers (with the mysqladmin program) has the same username and password for each server. Also, make sure that the account has the SHUTDOWN privilege. If the servers that you want to manage have different usernames or passwords for the administrative accounts, you might want to create an account on each server that has the same username and password. For example, you might set up a common multi_admin account by executing the following commands for each server:

shell> mysql -u root -S /tmp/mysql.sock -p
Enter password:
mysql> GRANT SHUTDOWN ON *.*
    -> TO 'multi_admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'multipass';

See Section 5.7.2, “How the Privilege System Works”. You have to do this for each mysqld server. Change the connection parameters appropriately when connecting to each one. Note that the hostname part of the account name must allow you to connect as multi_admin from the host where you want to run mysqld_multi.

The Unix socket file and the TCP/IP port number must be different for every mysqld.

The --pid-file option is very important if you are using mysqld_safe to start mysqld (for example, --mysqld=mysqld_safe) Every mysqld should have its own process ID file. The advantage of using mysqld_safe instead of mysqld is that mysqld_safe monitors its mysqld process and restarts it if the process terminates due to a signal sent using kill -9 or for other reasons, such as a segmentation fault. Please note that the mysqld_safe script might require that you start it from a certain place. This means that you might have to change location to a certain directory before running mysqld_multi. If you have problems starting, please see the mysqld_safe script. Check especially the lines:

----------------------------------------------------------------
MY_PWD=`pwd`
# Check if we are starting this relative (for the binary release)
if test -d $MY_PWD/data/mysql -a -f ./share/mysql/english/errmsg.sys -a \
 -x ./bin/mysqld
----------------------------------------------------------------

The test performed by these lines should be successful, or you might encounter problems. See Section 5.3.1, “mysqld_safe — MySQL Server Startup Script”.

You might want to use the --user option for mysqld, but to do this you need to run the mysqld_multi script as the Unix root user. Having the option in the option file doesn't matter; you just get a warning if you are not the superuser and the mysqld processes are started under your own Unix account.