The MySQL Configuration File: my.cnf

The MySQL Configuration File: my.cnf

It's very likely that the first task the administrator will want to undertake is proper configuration of MySQL's configuration file. This file, entitled my.cnf, stores default startup options for both the server and for clients. Correct configuration of this file can go a long way towards optimizing MySQL, as various memory buffer settings and other valuable options can be set here.

Interestingly, the scope of this file can be set according to its location. The settings will be considered global to all MySQL servers if stored in /etc/my.cnf. It will be global to a specific server if located in the directory where the MySQL databases are stored (/usr/local/mysql/data for a binary installation, or /usr/local/var for a source installation). Finally, its scope could be limited to a specific user if located in the home directory of the MySQL user (~/.my.cnf). Keep in mind that even if MySQL does locate a my.cnf file in /etc/my.cnf (global to all MySQL servers on that machine), it will continue its search for a server-specific file, and then a user-specific file. You can think of the final configuration settings as being the result of the /etc/my.cnf, mysql-data-dir/my.cnf, and ~/.my.cnf files.

In order to aid administrator's in the proper configuration of this file, the MySQL developers have included four sample my.cnf files within the distribution. Their names are my-huge.cnf.sh, my-large.cnf.sh, my-medium.cnf.sh, and my-small.cnf.sh, and each denotes recommended configuration settings in accordance with system resource availability.


Try use command: locate my.cnf when you want to know Where config file of MySQL is.