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Using MySQL Programs

229

4.2. Using MySQL Programs

4.2.1. Invoking MySQL Programs

To invoke a MySQL program from the command line (that is, from your shell or command prompt),
enter the program name followed by any options or other arguments needed to instruct the program
what you want it to do. The following commands show some sample program invocations. “

shell>

”

represents the prompt for your command interpreter; it is not part of what you type. The particular
prompt you see depends on your command interpreter. Typical prompts are

for

bash

for

csh

tcsh

, and

C:\>

for the Windows

command.com

cmd.exe

command interpreters.

shell>

mysql --user=root test

shell>

mysqladmin extended-status variables

shell>

mysqlshow --help

shell>

mysqldump -u root personnel

Arguments that begin with a single or double dash (“

”, “

”) specify program options. Options typically

indicate the type of connection a program should make to the server or affect its operational mode.
Option syntax is described in

Section 4.2.3, “Specifying Program Options”

Nonoption arguments (arguments with no leading dash) provide additional information to the program.
For example, the

mysql

program interprets the first nonoption argument as a database name, so the

command

mysql --user=root test

indicates that you want to use the

test

database.

Later sections that describe individual programs indicate which options a program supports and
describe the meaning of any additional nonoption arguments.

Some options are common to a number of programs. The most frequently used of these are the

host

[231]

(or

-h

--user

[232]

(or

-u

), and

--password

[231]

(or

-p

) options that specify

connection parameters. They indicate the host where the MySQL server is running, and the user
name and password of your MySQL account. All MySQL client programs understand these options;
they enable you to specify which server to connect to and the account to use on that server. Other
connection options are

--port

[231]

(or

-P

) to specify a TCP/IP port number and

--socket

[232]

(or

-S

) to specify a Unix socket file on Unix (or named pipe name on Windows). For more information

on options that specify connection options, see

Section 4.2.2, “Connecting to the MySQL Server”

You may find it necessary to invoke MySQL programs using the path name to the

bin

directory in

which they are installed. This is likely to be the case if you get a “program not found” error whenever
you attempt to run a MySQL program from any directory other than the

bin

directory. To make it more

convenient to use MySQL, you can add the path name of the

bin

directory to your

PATH

environment

variable setting. That enables you to run a program by typing only its name, not its entire path name.
For example, if

mysql

is installed in

/usr/local/mysql/bin

, you can run the program by invoking it

mysql

, and it is not necessary to invoke it as

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql

Consult the documentation for your command interpreter for instructions on setting your

PATH

variable.

The syntax for setting environment variables is interpreter-specific. (Some information is given in

Section 4.2.4, “Setting Environment Variables”

.) After modifying your

PATH

setting, open a new console

window on Windows or log in again on Unix so that the setting goes into effect.

4.2.2. Connecting to the MySQL Server

For a client program to be able to connect to the MySQL server, it must use the proper connection
parameters, such as the name of the host where the server is running and the user name and
password of your MySQL account. Each connection parameter has a default value, but you can
override them as necessary using program options specified either on the command line or in an option
file.

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