How Do I Determine the Active MySQL Configuration File?

Determining the MySQL Configuration File in Use

When configuring MySQL, it's crucial to know which configuration file is being referenced. This article will guide you on determining the currently active configuration file for MySQL 5.0.

Locating the Configuration File

The simplest method to find the in-use configuration file is through the following command:

/usr/sbin/mysqld --verbose --help | grep -A 1 "Default options"

This command provides information about the MySQL binary, including the default options. It will display the locations of the configuration files in the following order:

/etc/mysql/my.cnf
~/.my.cnf
/usr/etc/my.cnf

MySQL reads the configuration files in the listed order, starting with the topmost file. Therefore, any settings defined in lower-level files will override those in higher-level files.

Example

Suppose we want to find out which configuration files are in use by a MySQL 5.0 installation. By executing the command:

/usr/sbin/mysqld --verbose --help | grep -A 1 "Default options"

We may get the following output:

Default options are read from the following files in the given order:
/etc/mysql/my.cnf
~/.my.cnf

This indicates that MySQL is reading configuration settings from /etc/mysql/my.cnf and ~/.my.cnf.

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