mysql
MYSQL(1) MySQL Database System MYSQL(1)
NAME
mysql - the MySQL command-line client
SYNOPSIS
mysql [options] db_name
DESCRIPTION
mysql is a simple SQL shell with input line editing capabilities. It
supports interactive and noninteractive use. When used interactively,
query results are presented in an ASCII-table format. When used
noninteractively (for example, as a filter), the result is presented in
tab-separated format. The output format can be changed using command
options.
If you have problems due to insufficient memory for large result sets,
use the --quick option. This forces mysql to retrieve results from the
server a row at a time rather than retrieving the entire result set and
buffering it in memory before displaying it. This is done by returning
the result set using the mysql_use_result() C API function in the
client/server library rather than mysql_store_result().
Note
Alternatively, MySQL Shell offers access to the X DevAPI. For
details, see MySQL Shell 8.0[1].
Using mysql is very easy. Invoke it from the prompt of your command
interpreter as follows:
mysql db_name
Or:
mysql --user=user_name --password db_name
In this case, you'll need to enter your password in response to the
prompt that mysql displays:
Enter password: your_password
Then type an SQL statement, end it with ;, \g, or \G and press Enter.
Typing Control+C interrupts the current statement if there is one, or
cancels any partial input line otherwise.
You can execute SQL statements in a script file (batch file) like this:
mysql db_name < script.sql > output.tab
On Unix, the mysql client logs statements executed interactively to a
history file. See the section called "MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING".
MYSQL CLIENT OPTIONS
mysql supports the following options, which can be specified on the
command line or in the [mysql] and [client] groups of an option file.
For information about option files used by MySQL programs, see
Section 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".
o --help, -?
+--------------------+--------+
|Command-Line Format | --help |
+--------------------+--------+
Display a help message and exit.
o --auto-rehash
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --auto-rehash |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Disabled by | skip-auto-rehash |
+--------------------+------------------+
Enable automatic rehashing. This option is on by default, which
enables database, table, and column name completion. Use
--disable-auto-rehash to disable rehashing. That causes mysql to
start faster, but you must issue the rehash command or its \#
shortcut if you want to use name completion.
To complete a name, enter the first part and press Tab. If the name
is unambiguous, mysql completes it. Otherwise, you can press Tab
again to see the possible names that begin with what you have typed
so far. Completion does not occur if there is no default database.
Note
This feature requires a MySQL client that is compiled with the
readline library. Typically, the readline library is not
available on Windows.
o --auto-vertical-output
+--------------------+------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --auto-vertical-output |
+--------------------+------------------------+
Cause result sets to be displayed vertically if they are too wide
for the current window, and using normal tabular format otherwise.
(This applies to statements terminated by ; or \G.)
o --batch, -B
+--------------------+---------+
|Command-Line Format | --batch |
+--------------------+---------+
Print results using tab as the column separator, with each row on a
new line. With this option, mysql does not use the history file.
Batch mode results in nontabular output format and escaping of
special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode; see
the description for the --raw option.
o --binary-as-hex
+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --binary-as-hex |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|Default Value (>= 8.0.19) | FALSE in noninteractive |
| | mode |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|Default Value (<= 8.0.18) | FALSE |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+
When this option is given, mysql displays binary data using
hexadecimal notation (0xvalue). This occurs whether the overall
output display format is tabular, vertical, HTML, or XML.
--binary-as-hex when enabled affects display of all binary strings,
including those returned by functions such as CHAR() and UNHEX().
The following example demonstrates this using the ASCII code for A
(65 decimal, 41 hexadecimal):
o --binary-as-hex disabled:
mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41), UNHEX('41');
+------------+-------------+
| CHAR(0x41) | UNHEX('41') |
+------------+-------------+
| A | A |
+------------+-------------+
o --binary-as-hex enabled:
mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41), UNHEX('41');
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| CHAR(0x41) | UNHEX('41') |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
| 0x41 | 0x41 |
+------------------------+--------------------------+
To write a binary string expression so that it displays as a
character string regardless of whether --binary-as-hex is enabled,
use these techniques:
o The CHAR() function has a USING charset clause:
mysql> SELECT CHAR(0x41 USING utf8mb4);
+--------------------------+
| CHAR(0x41 USING utf8mb4) |
+--------------------------+
| A |
+--------------------------+
o More generally, use CONVERT() to convert an expression to a
given character set:
mysql> SELECT CONVERT(UNHEX('41') USING utf8mb4);
+------------------------------------+
| CONVERT(UNHEX('41') USING utf8mb4) |
+------------------------------------+
| A |
+------------------------------------+
As of MySQL 8.0.19, when mysql operates in interactive mode, this
option is enabled by default. In addition, output from the status
(or \s) command includes this line when the option is enabled
implicitly or explicitly:
Binary data as: Hexadecimal
To disable hexadecimal notation, use --skip-binary-as-hex
o --binary-mode
+--------------------+---------------+
|Command-Line Format | --binary-mode |
+--------------------+---------------+
This option helps when processing mysqlbinlog output that may
contain BLOB values. By default, mysql translates \r\n in statement
strings to \n and interprets \0 as the statement terminator.
--binary-mode disables both features. It also disables all mysql
commands except charset and delimiter in noninteractive mode (for
input piped to mysql or loaded using the source command).
o --bind-address=ip_address
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --bind-address=ip_address |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
On a computer having multiple network interfaces, use this option
to select which interface to use for connecting to the MySQL
server.
o --character-sets-dir=dir_name
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --character-sets- |
| | dir=dir_name |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | Directory name |
+--------------------+-------------------+
The directory where character sets are installed. See
Section 12.15, "Character Set Configuration".
o --column-names
+--------------------+----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --column-names |
+--------------------+----------------+
Write column names in results.
o --column-type-info
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --column-type-info |
+--------------------+--------------------+
Display result set metadata. This information corresponds to the
contents of C API MYSQL_FIELD data structures. See C API Basic Data
Structures[2].
o --comments, -c
+--------------------+------------+
|Command-Line Format | --comments |
+--------------------+------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+------------+
Whether to strip or preserve comments in statements sent to the
server. The default is --skip-comments (strip comments), enable
with --comments (preserve comments).
Note
The mysql client always passes optimizer hints to the server,
regardless of whether this option is given.
Comment stripping is deprecated. Expect this feature and the
options to control it to be removed in a future MySQL release.
o --compress, -C
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --compress[={OFF|ON}] |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Deprecated | 8.0.18 |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Default Value | OFF |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
Compress all information sent between the client and the server if
possible. See Section 6.2.8, "Connection Compression Control".
As of MySQL 8.0.18, this option is deprecated. Expect it to be
removed in a future version of MySQL. See the section called
"Configuring Legacy Connection Compression".
o --compression-algorithms=value
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --compression- |
| | algorithms=value |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.18 |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Type | Set |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Default Value | uncompressed |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Valid Values | |
| | zlib |
| | |
| | zstd |
| | |
| | uncompressed |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
The permitted compression algorithms for connections to the server.
The available algorithms are the same as for the
protocol_compression_algorithms system variable. The default value
is uncompressed.
For more information, see Section 6.2.8, "Connection Compression
Control".
This option was added in MySQL 8.0.18.
o --connect-expired-password
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --connect-expired-password |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
Indicate to the server that the client can handle sandbox mode if
the account used to connect has an expired password. This can be
useful for noninteractive invocations of mysql because normally the
server disconnects noninteractive clients that attempt to connect
using an account with an expired password. (See Section 8.2.16,
"Server Handling of Expired Passwords".)
o --connect-timeout=value
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --connect-timeout=value |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Default Value | 0 |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
The number of seconds before connection timeout. (Default value is
0.)
o --database=db_name, -D db_name
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --database=dbname |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------+
The database to use. This is useful primarily in an option file.
o --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --debug[=debug_options] |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Default Value | d:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is
d:t:o,file_name. The default is d:t:o,/tmp/mysql.trace.
This option is available only if MySQL was built using WITH_DEBUG.
MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle are not built using this
option.
o --debug-check
+--------------------+---------------+
|Command-Line Format | --debug-check |
+--------------------+---------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+---------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+---------------+
Print some debugging information when the program exits.
This option is available only if MySQL was built using WITH_DEBUG.
MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle are not built using this
option.
o --debug-info, -T
+--------------------+--------------+
|Command-Line Format | --debug-info |
+--------------------+--------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+--------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+--------------+
Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics
when the program exits.
This option is available only if MySQL was built using WITH_DEBUG.
MySQL release binaries provided by Oracle are not built using this
option.
o --default-auth=plugin
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --default-auth=plugin |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
A hint about which client-side authentication plugin to use. See
Section 8.2.17, "Pluggable Authentication".
o --default-character-set=charset_name
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --default-character- |
| | set=charset_name |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+----------------------+
Use charset_name as the default character set for the client and
connection.
This option can be useful if the operating system uses one
character set and the mysql client by default uses another. In this
case, output may be formatted incorrectly. You can usually fix such
issues by using this option to force the client to use the system
character set instead.
For more information, see Section 12.4, "Connection Character Sets
and Collations", and Section 12.15, "Character Set Configuration".
o --defaults-extra-file=file_name
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --defaults-extra- |
| | file=file_name |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | File name |
+--------------------+-------------------+
Read this option file after the global option file but (on Unix)
before the user option file. If the file does not exist or is
otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. If file_name is not an
absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current
directory.
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --defaults-file=file_name
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --defaults-file=file_name |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Type | File name |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
Use only the given option file. If the file does not exist or is
otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. If file_name is not an
absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current
directory.
Exception: Even with --defaults-file, client programs read
.mylogin.cnf.
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --defaults-group-suffix=str
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --defaults-group- |
| | suffix=str |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------+
Read not only the usual option groups, but also groups with the
usual names and a suffix of str. For example, mysql normally reads
the [client] and [mysql] groups. If this option is given as
--defaults-group-suffix=_other, mysql also reads the [client_other]
and [mysql_other] groups.
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --delimiter=str
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --delimiter=str |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Default Value | ; |
+--------------------+-----------------+
Set the statement delimiter. The default is the semicolon character
(;).
o --disable-named-commands Disable named commands. Use the \* form
only, or use named commands only at the beginning of a line ending
with a semicolon (;). mysql starts with this option enabled by
default. However, even with this option, long-format commands still
work from the first line. See the section called "MYSQL CLIENT
COMMANDS".
o --dns-srv-name=name
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --dns-srv-name=name |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.22 |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Specifies the name of a DNS SRV record that determines the
candidate hosts to use for establishing a connection to a MySQL
server. For information about DNS SRV support in MySQL, see
Section 6.2.6, "Connecting to the Server Using DNS SRV Records".
Suppose that DNS is configured with this SRV information for the
example.com domain:
Name TTL Class Priority Weight Port Target
_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 0 5 3306 host1.example.com
_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 0 10 3306 host2.example.com
_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 10 5 3306 host3.example.com
_mysql._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 20 5 3306 host4.example.com
To use that DNS SRV record, invoke mysql like this:
mysql --dns-srv-name=_mysql._tcp.example.com
mysql then attempts a connection to each server in the group until
a successful connection is established. A failure to connect occurs
only if a connection cannot be established to any of the servers.
The priority and weight values in the DNS SRV record determine the
order in which servers should be tried.
When invoked with --dns-srv-name, mysql attempts to establish TCP
connections only.
The --dns-srv-name option takes precedence over the --host option
if both are given. --dns-srv-name causes connection establishment
to use the mysql_real_connect_dns_srv() C API function rather than
mysql_real_connect(). However, if the connect command is
subsequently used at runtime and specifies a host name argument,
that host name takes precedence over any --dns-srv-name option
given at mysql startup to specify a DNS SRV record.
This option was added in MySQL 8.0.22.
o --enable-cleartext-plugin
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --enable-cleartext-plugin |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
Enable the mysql_clear_password cleartext authentication plugin.
(See Section 8.4.1.4, "Client-Side Cleartext Pluggable
Authentication".)
o --execute=statement, -e statement
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --execute=statement |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Execute the statement and quit. The default output format is like
that produced with --batch. See Section 6.2.2.1, "Using Options on
the Command Line", for some examples. With this option, mysql does
not use the history file.
o --fido-register-factor=value
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --fido-register- |
| | factor=value |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.27 |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Deprecated | 8.0.35 |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+------------------+
Note
As of MySQL 8.0.35, this option is deprecated and subject to
removal in a future MySQL release.
The factor or factors for which FIDO device registration must be
performed. This option value must be a single value, or two values
separated by commas. Each value must be 2 or 3, so the permitted
option values are '2', '3', '2,3' and '3,2'.
For example, an account that requires registration for a 3rd
authentication factor invokes the mysql client as follows:
mysql --user=user_name --fido-register-factor=3
An account that requires registration for a 2nd and 3rd
authentication factor invokes the mysql client as follows:
mysql --user=user_name --fido-register-factor=2,3
If registration is successful, a connection is established. If
there is an authentication factor with a pending registration, a
connection is placed into pending registration mode when attempting
to connect to the server. In this case, disconnect and reconnect
with the correct --fido-register-factor value to complete the
registration.
Registration is a two step process comprising initiate registration
and finish registration steps. The initiate registration step
executes this statement:
ALTER USER user factor INITIATE REGISTRATION
The statement returns a result set containing a 32 byte challenge,
the user name, and the relying party ID (see
authentication_fido_rp_id).
The finish registration step executes this statement:
ALTER USER user factor FINISH REGISTRATION SET CHALLENGE_RESPONSE AS 'auth_string'
The statement completes the registration and sends the following
information to the server as part of the auth_string: authenticator
data, an optional attestation certificate in X.509 format, and a
signature.
The initiate and registration steps must be performed in a single
connection, as the challenge received by the client during the
initiate step is saved to the client connection handler.
Registration would fail if the registration step was performed by a
different connection. The --fido-register-factor option executes
both the initiate and registration steps, which avoids the failure
scenario described above and prevents having to execute the ALTER
USER initiate and registration statements manually.
The --fido-register-factor option is only available for the mysql
client and MySQL Shell. Other MySQL client programs do not support
it.
For related information, see the section called "Using FIDO
Authentication".
o --force, -f
+--------------------+---------+
|Command-Line Format | --force |
+--------------------+---------+
Continue even if an SQL error occurs.
o --get-server-public-key
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --get-server-public-key |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+-------------------------+
Request from the server the public key required for RSA key
pair-based password exchange. This option applies to clients that
authenticate with the caching_sha2_password authentication plugin.
For that plugin, the server does not send the public key unless
requested. This option is ignored for accounts that do not
authenticate with that plugin. It is also ignored if RSA-based
password exchange is not used, as is the case when the client
connects to the server using a secure connection.
If --server-public-key-path=file_name is given and specifies a
valid public key file, it takes precedence over
--get-server-public-key.
For information about the caching_sha2_password plugin, see
Section 8.4.1.2, "Caching SHA-2 Pluggable Authentication".
o --histignore
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --histignore=pattern_list |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
A list of one or more colon-separated patterns specifying
statements to ignore for logging purposes. These patterns are added
to the default pattern list ("*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*"). The value
specified for this option affects logging of statements written to
the history file, and to syslog if the --syslog option is given.
For more information, see the section called "MYSQL CLIENT
LOGGING".
o --host=host_name, -h host_name
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --host=host_name |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Default Value | localhost |
+--------------------+------------------+
Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.
The --dns-srv-name option takes precedence over the --host option
if both are given. --dns-srv-name causes connection establishment
to use the mysql_real_connect_dns_srv() C API function rather than
mysql_real_connect(). However, if the connect command is
subsequently used at runtime and specifies a host name argument,
that host name takes precedence over any --dns-srv-name option
given at mysql startup to specify a DNS SRV record.
o --html, -H
+--------------------+--------+
|Command-Line Format | --html |
+--------------------+--------+
Produce HTML output.
o --ignore-spaces, -i
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --ignore-spaces |
+--------------------+-----------------+
Ignore spaces after function names. The effect of this is described
in the discussion for the IGNORE_SPACE SQL mode (see
Section 7.1.11, "Server SQL Modes").
o --init-command=str
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --init-command=str |
+--------------------+--------------------+
Single SQL statement to execute after connecting to the server. If
auto-reconnect is enabled, the statement is executed again after
reconnection occurs.
o --line-numbers
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --line-numbers |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Disabled by | skip-line-numbers |
+--------------------+-------------------+
Write line numbers for errors. Disable this with
--skip-line-numbers.
o --load-data-local-dir=dir_name
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --load-data-local- |
| | dir=dir_name |
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.21 |
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Type | Directory name |
+--------------------+--------------------+
|Default Value | empty string |
+--------------------+--------------------+
This option affects the client-side LOCAL capability for LOAD DATA
operations. It specifies the directory in which files named in LOAD
DATA LOCAL statements must be located. The effect of
--load-data-local-dir depends on whether LOCAL data loading is
enabled or disabled:
o If LOCAL data loading is enabled, either by default in the
MySQL client library or by specifying --local-infile[=1], the
--load-data-local-dir option is ignored.
o If LOCAL data loading is disabled, either by default in the
MySQL client library or by specifying --local-infile=0, the
--load-data-local-dir option applies.
When --load-data-local-dir applies, the option value designates the
directory in which local data files must be located. Comparison of
the directory path name and the path name of files to be loaded is
case-sensitive regardless of the case sensitivity of the underlying
file system. If the option value is the empty string, it names no
directory, with the result that no files are permitted for local
data loading.
For example, to explicitly disable local data loading except for
files located in the /my/local/data directory, invoke mysql like
this:
mysql --local-infile=0 --load-data-local-dir=/my/local/data
When both --local-infile and --load-data-local-dir are given, the
order in which they are given does not matter.
Successful use of LOCAL load operations within mysql also requires
that the server permits local loading; see Section 8.1.6, "Security
Considerations for LOAD DATA LOCAL"
The --load-data-local-dir option was added in MySQL 8.0.21.
o --local-infile[={0|1}]
+--------------------+------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --local-infile[={0|1}] |
+--------------------+------------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+------------------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+------------------------+
By default, LOCAL capability for LOAD DATA is determined by the
default compiled into the MySQL client library. To enable or
disable LOCAL data loading explicitly, use the --local-infile
option. When given with no value, the option enables LOCAL data
loading. When given as --local-infile=0 or --local-infile=1, the
option disables or enables LOCAL data loading.
If LOCAL capability is disabled, the --load-data-local-dir option
can be used to permit restricted local loading of files located in
a designated directory.
Successful use of LOCAL load operations within mysql also requires
that the server permits local loading; see Section 8.1.6, "Security
Considerations for LOAD DATA LOCAL"
o --login-path=name
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --login-path=name |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------+
Read options from the named login path in the .mylogin.cnf login
path file. A "login path" is an option group containing options
that specify which MySQL server to connect to and which account to
authenticate as. To create or modify a login path file, use the
mysql_config_editor utility. See mysql_config_editor(1).
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --max-allowed-packet=value
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --max-allowed-packet=value |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Default Value | 16777216 |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
The maximum size of the buffer for client/server communication. The
default is 16MB, the maximum is 1GB.
o --max-join-size=value
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --max-join-size=value |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Default Value | 1000000 |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
The automatic limit for rows in a join when using --safe-updates.
(Default value is 1,000,000.)
o --named-commands, -G
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --named-commands |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Disabled by | skip-named-commands |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Enable named mysql commands. Long-format commands are permitted,
not just short-format commands. For example, quit and \q both are
recognized. Use --skip-named-commands to disable named commands.
See the section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS".
o --net-buffer-length=value
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --net-buffer-length=value |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Default Value | 16384 |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
The buffer size for TCP/IP and socket communication. (Default value
is 16KB.)
o --network-namespace=name
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --network-namespace=name |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.22 |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
The network namespace to use for TCP/IP connections. If omitted,
the connection uses the default (global) namespace. For information
about network namespaces, see Section 7.1.14, "Network Namespace
Support".
This option was added in MySQL 8.0.22. It is available only on
platforms that implement network namespace support.
o --no-auto-rehash, -A
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --no-auto-rehash |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Deprecated | Yes |
+--------------------+------------------+
This has the same effect as --skip-auto-rehash. See the description
for --auto-rehash.
o --no-beep, -b
+--------------------+-----------+
|Command-Line Format | --no-beep |
+--------------------+-----------+
Do not beep when errors occur.
o --no-defaults
+--------------------+---------------+
|Command-Line Format | --no-defaults |
+--------------------+---------------+
Do not read any option files. If program startup fails due to
reading unknown options from an option file, --no-defaults can be
used to prevent them from being read.
The exception is that the .mylogin.cnf file is read in all cases,
if it exists. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way
than on the command line even when --no-defaults is used. To create
.mylogin.cnf, use the mysql_config_editor utility. See
mysql_config_editor(1).
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --one-database, -o
+--------------------+----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --one-database |
+--------------------+----------------+
Ignore statements except those that occur while the default
database is the one named on the command line. This option is
rudimentary and should be used with care. Statement filtering is
based only on USE statements.
Initially, mysql executes statements in the input because
specifying a database db_name on the command line is equivalent to
inserting USE db_name at the beginning of the input. Then, for each
USE statement encountered, mysql accepts or rejects following
statements depending on whether the database named is the one on
the command line. The content of the statements is immaterial.
Suppose that mysql is invoked to process this set of statements:
DELETE FROM db2.t2;
USE db2;
DROP TABLE db1.t1;
CREATE TABLE db1.t1 (i INT);
USE db1;
INSERT INTO t1 (i) VALUES(1);
CREATE TABLE db2.t1 (j INT);
If the command line is mysql --force --one-database db1, mysql
handles the input as follows:
o The DELETE statement is executed because the default database
is db1, even though the statement names a table in a different
database.
o The DROP TABLE and CREATE TABLE statements are not executed
because the default database is not db1, even though the
statements name a table in db1.
o The INSERT and CREATE TABLE statements are executed because the
default database is db1, even though the CREATE TABLE statement
names a table in a different database.
o --pager[=command]
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --pager[=command] |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Disabled by | skip-pager |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------+
Use the given command for paging query output. If the command is
omitted, the default pager is the value of your PAGER environment
variable. Valid pagers are less, more, cat [> filename], and so
forth. This option works only on Unix and only in interactive mode.
To disable paging, use --skip-pager. the section called "MYSQL
CLIENT COMMANDS", discusses output paging further.
o --password[=password], -p[password]
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --password[=password] |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
The password of the MySQL account used for connecting to the
server. The password value is optional. If not given, mysql prompts
for one. If given, there must be no space between --password= or -p
and the password following it. If no password option is specified,
the default is to send no password.
Specifying a password on the command line should be considered
insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an
option file. See Section 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password
Security".
To explicitly specify that there is no password and that mysql
should not prompt for one, use the --skip-password option.
o --password1[=pass_val] The password for multifactor authentication
factor 1 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server.
The password value is optional. If not given, mysql prompts for
one. If given, there must be no space between --password1= and the
password following it. If no password option is specified, the
default is to send no password.
Specifying a password on the command line should be considered
insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an
option file. See Section 8.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password
Security".
To explicitly specify that there is no password and that mysql
should not prompt for one, use the --skip-password1 option.
--password1 and --password are synonymous, as are --skip-password1
and --skip-password.
o --password2[=pass_val] The password for multifactor authentication
factor 2 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server.
The semantics of this option are similar to the semantics for
--password1; see the description of that option for details.
o --password3[=pass_val] The password for multifactor authentication
factor 3 of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server.
The semantics of this option are similar to the semantics for
--password1; see the description of that option for details.
o --pipe, -W
+--------------------+--------+
|Command-Line Format | --pipe |
+--------------------+--------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+--------+
On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option
applies only if the server was started with the named_pipe system
variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition,
the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows
group specified by the named_pipe_full_access_group system
variable.
o --plugin-authentication-kerberos-client-mode=value
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --plugin-authentication- |
| | kerberos-client-mode |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.32 |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Default Value | SSPI |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
|Valid Values | |
| | GSSAPI |
| | |
| | SSPI |
+--------------------+--------------------------+
On Windows, the authentication_kerberos_client authentication
plugin supports this plugin option. It provides two possible values
that the client user can set at runtime: SSPI and GSSAPI.
The default value for the client-side plugin option uses Security
Support Provider Interface (SSPI), which is capable of acquiring
credentials from the Windows in-memory cache. Alternatively, the
client user can select a mode that supports Generic Security
Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) through the MIT
Kerberos library on Windows. GSSAPI is capable of acquiring cached
credentials previously generated by using the kinit command.
For more information, see Commands for Windows Clients in GSSAPI
Mode.
o --plugin-dir=dir_name
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --plugin-dir=dir_name |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Type | Directory name |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
The directory in which to look for plugins. Specify this option if
the --default-auth option is used to specify an authentication
plugin but mysql does not find it. See Section 8.2.17, "Pluggable
Authentication".
o --port=port_num, -P port_num
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --port=port_num |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Default Value | 3306 |
+--------------------+-----------------+
For TCP/IP connections, the port number to use.
o --print-defaults
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --print-defaults |
+--------------------+------------------+
Print the program name and all options that it gets from option
files.
For additional information about this and other option-file
options, see Section 6.2.2.3, "Command-Line Options that Affect
Option-File Handling".
o --prompt=format_str
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --prompt=format_str |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Default Value | mysql> |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Set the prompt to the specified format. The default is mysql>. The
special sequences that the prompt can contain are described in the
section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS".
o --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --protocol=type |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Default Value | [see text] |
+--------------------+-------------------+
|Valid Values | |
| | TCP |
| | |
| | SOCKET |
| | |
| | PIPE |
| | |
| | MEMORY |
+--------------------+-------------------+
The transport protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is
useful when the other connection parameters normally result in use
of a protocol other than the one you want. For details on the
permissible values, see Section 6.2.7, "Connection Transport
Protocols".
o --quick, -q
+--------------------+---------+
|Command-Line Format | --quick |
+--------------------+---------+
Do not cache each query result, print each row as it is received.
This may slow down the server if the output is suspended. With this
option, mysql does not use the history file.
By default, mysql fetches all result rows before producing any
output; while storing these, it calculates a running maximum column
length from the actual value of each column in succession. When
printing the output, it uses this maximum to format it. When
--quick is specified, mysql does not have the rows for which to
calculate the length before starting, and so uses the maximum
length. In the following example, table t1 has a single column of
type BIGINT and containing 4 rows. The default output is 9
characters wide; this width is equal the maximum number of
characters in any of the column values in the rows returned (5),
plus 2 characters each for the spaces used as padding and the |
characters used as column delimiters). The output when using the
--quick option is 25 characters wide; this is equal to the number
of characters needed to represent -9223372036854775808, which is
the longest possible value that can be stored in a (signed) BIGINT
column, or 19 characters, plus the 4 characters used for padding
and column delimiters. The difference can be seen here:
$> mysql -t test -e "SELECT * FROM t1"
+-------+
| c1 |
+-------+
| 100 |
| 1000 |
| 10000 |
| 10 |
+-------+
$> mysql --quick -t test -e "SELECT * FROM t1"
+----------------------+
| c1 |
+----------------------+
| 100 |
| 1000 |
| 10000 |
| 10 |
+----------------------+
o --raw, -r
+--------------------+-------+
|Command-Line Format | --raw |
+--------------------+-------+
For tabular output, the "boxing" around columns enables one column
value to be distinguished from another. For nontabular output (such
as is produced in batch mode or when the --batch or --silent option
is given), special characters are escaped in the output so they can
be identified easily. Newline, tab, NUL, and backslash are written
as \n, \t, \0, and \\. The --raw option disables this character
escaping.
The following example demonstrates tabular versus nontabular output
and the use of raw mode to disable escaping:
% mysql
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
+----------+
| CHAR(92) |
+----------+
| \ |
+----------+
% mysql -s
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
CHAR(92)
\\
% mysql -s -r
mysql> SELECT CHAR(92);
CHAR(92)
\
o --reconnect
+--------------------+----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --reconnect |
+--------------------+----------------+
|Disabled by | skip-reconnect |
+--------------------+----------------+
If the connection to the server is lost, automatically try to
reconnect. A single reconnect attempt is made each time the
connection is lost. To suppress reconnection behavior, use
--skip-reconnect.
o --safe-updates, --i-am-a-dummy, -U
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | |
| | --safe-updates |
| | |
| | --i-am-a-dummy |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
|Default Value | FALSE |
+--------------------+---------------------------+
If this option is enabled, UPDATE and DELETE statements that do not
use a key in the WHERE clause or a LIMIT clause produce an error.
In addition, restrictions are placed on SELECT statements that
produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets. If
you have set this option in an option file, you can use
--skip-safe-updates on the command line to override it. For more
information about this option, see Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-
updates).
o --select-limit=value
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --select-limit=value |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Type | Numeric |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Default Value | 1000 |
+--------------------+----------------------+
The automatic limit for SELECT statements when using
--safe-updates. (Default value is 1,000.)
o --server-public-key-path=file_name
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --server-public-key- |
| | path=file_name |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Type | File name |
+--------------------+----------------------+
The path name to a file in PEM format containing a client-side copy
of the public key required by the server for RSA key pair-based
password exchange. This option applies to clients that authenticate
with the sha256_password or caching_sha2_password authentication
plugin. This option is ignored for accounts that do not
authenticate with one of those plugins. It is also ignored if
RSA-based password exchange is not used, as is the case when the
client connects to the server using a secure connection.
If --server-public-key-path=file_name is given and specifies a
valid public key file, it takes precedence over
--get-server-public-key.
For sha256_password, this option applies only if MySQL was built
using OpenSSL.
For information about the sha256_password and caching_sha2_password
plugins, see Section 8.4.1.3, "SHA-256 Pluggable Authentication",
and Section 8.4.1.2, "Caching SHA-2 Pluggable Authentication".
o --shared-memory-base-name=name
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --shared-memory-base- |
| | name=name |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Platform Specific | Windows |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
On Windows, the shared-memory name to use for connections made
using shared memory to a local server. The default value is MYSQL.
The shared-memory name is case-sensitive.
This option applies only if the server was started with the
shared_memory system variable enabled to support shared-memory
connections.
o --show-warnings
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --show-warnings |
+--------------------+-----------------+
Cause warnings to be shown after each statement if there are any.
This option applies to interactive and batch mode.
o --sigint-ignore
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --sigint-ignore |
+--------------------+-----------------+
Ignore SIGINT signals (typically the result of typing Control+C).
Without this option, typing Control+C interrupts the current
statement if there is one, or cancels any partial input line
otherwise.
o --silent, -s
+--------------------+----------+
|Command-Line Format | --silent |
+--------------------+----------+
Silent mode. Produce less output. This option can be given multiple
times to produce less and less output.
This option results in nontabular output format and escaping of
special characters. Escaping may be disabled by using raw mode; see
the description for the --raw option.
o --skip-column-names, -N
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --skip-column-names |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Do not write column names in results. Use of this option causes the
output to be right-aligned, as shown here:
$> echo "SELECT * FROM t1" | mysql -t test
+-------+
| c1 |
+-------+
| a,c,d |
| c |
+-------+
$> echo "SELECT * FROM t1" | ./mysql -uroot -Nt test
+-------+
| a,c,d |
| c |
+-------+
o --skip-line-numbers, -L
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --skip-line-numbers |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Do not write line numbers for errors. Useful when you want to
compare result files that include error messages.
o --skip-system-command
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --skip-system-command |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.40 |
+--------------------+-----------------------+
Disables the system (\!) command. Equivalent to
--system-command=OFF.
o --socket=path, -S path
+--------------------+--------------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --socket={file_name|pipe_name} |
+--------------------+--------------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+--------------------------------+
For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on
Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.
On Windows, this option applies only if the server was started with
the named_pipe system variable enabled to support named-pipe
connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a
member of the Windows group specified by the
named_pipe_full_access_group system variable.
o --ssl* Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to
the server using encryption and indicate where to find SSL keys and
certificates. See the section called "Command Options for Encrypted
Connections".
o --ssl-fips-mode={OFF|ON|STRICT}
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --ssl-fips- |
| | mode={OFF|ON|STRICT} |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Deprecated | 8.0.34 |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Type | Enumeration |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Default Value | OFF |
+--------------------+----------------------+
|Valid Values | |
| | OFF |
| | |
| | ON |
| | |
| | STRICT |
+--------------------+----------------------+
Controls whether to enable FIPS mode on the client side. The
--ssl-fips-mode option differs from other --ssl-xxx options in that
it is not used to establish encrypted connections, but rather to
affect which cryptographic operations to permit. See Section 8.8,
"FIPS Support".
These --ssl-fips-mode values are permitted:
o OFF: Disable FIPS mode.
o ON: Enable FIPS mode.
o STRICT: Enable "strict" FIPS mode.
Note
If the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module is not available, the only
permitted value for --ssl-fips-mode is OFF. In this case,
setting --ssl-fips-mode to ON or STRICT causes the client to
produce a warning at startup and to operate in non-FIPS mode.
As of MySQL 8.0.34, this option is deprecated. Expect it to be
removed in a future version of MySQL.
o --syslog, -j
+--------------------+----------+
|Command-Line Format | --syslog |
+--------------------+----------+
This option causes mysql to send interactive statements to the
system logging facility. On Unix, this is syslog; on Windows, it is
the Windows Event Log. The destination where logged messages appear
is system dependent. On Linux, the destination is often the
/var/log/messages file.
Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using --syslog.
This output is formatted for readability; each logged message
actually takes a single line.
Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:
SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,
DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'
Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:
SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,
DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'
For more information, see the section called "MYSQL CLIENT
LOGGING".
o --system-command[={ON|OFF}]
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --system- |
| | command[={ON|OFF}] |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.40 |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Disabled by | skip-system-command |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Type | Boolean |
+--------------------+---------------------+
|Default Value | ON |
+--------------------+---------------------+
Enable or disable the system (\!) command. When this option is
disabled, either by --system-command=OFF or by
--skip-system-command, the system command is rejected with an
error.
o --table, -t
+--------------------+---------+
|Command-Line Format | --table |
+--------------------+---------+
Display output in table format. This is the default for interactive
use, but can be used to produce table output in batch mode.
o --tee=file_name
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Command-Line Format | --tee=file_name |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Type | File name |
+--------------------+-----------------+
Append a copy of output to the given file. This option works only
in interactive mode. the section called "MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS",
discusses tee files further.
o --tls-ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list
+--------------------+-------------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --tls- |
| | ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list |
+--------------------+-------------------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.16 |
+--------------------+-------------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+-------------------------------+
The permissible ciphersuites for encrypted connections that use
TLSv1.3. The value is a list of one or more colon-separated
ciphersuite names. The ciphersuites that can be named for this
option depend on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. For
details, see Section 8.3.2, "Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and
Ciphers".
This option was added in MySQL 8.0.16.
o --tls-version=protocol_list
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --tls- |
| | version=protocol_list |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
|Default Value (>= 8.0.16) | |
| | TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 |
| | (OpenSSL 1.1.1 |
| | or higher) |
| | |
| | TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2 |
| | (otherwise) |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
|Default Value (<= 8.0.15) | TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2 |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
The permissible TLS protocols for encrypted connections. The value
is a list of one or more comma-separated protocol names. The
protocols that can be named for this option depend on the SSL
library used to compile MySQL. For details, see Section 8.3.2,
"Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers".
o --unbuffered, -n
+--------------------+--------------+
|Command-Line Format | --unbuffered |
+--------------------+--------------+
Flush the buffer after each query.
o --user=user_name, -u user_name
+--------------------+------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --user=user_name |
+--------------------+------------------+
|Type | String |
+--------------------+------------------+
The user name of the MySQL account to use for connecting to the
server.
o --verbose, -v
+--------------------+-----------+
|Command-Line Format | --verbose |
+--------------------+-----------+
Verbose mode. Produce more output about what the program does. This
option can be given multiple times to produce more and more output.
(For example, -v -v -v produces table output format even in batch
mode.)
o --version, -V
+--------------------+-----------+
|Command-Line Format | --version |
+--------------------+-----------+
Display version information and exit.
o --vertical, -E
+--------------------+------------+
|Command-Line Format | --vertical |
+--------------------+------------+
Print query output rows vertically (one line per column value).
Without this option, you can specify vertical output for individual
statements by terminating them with \G.
o --wait, -w
+--------------------+--------+
|Command-Line Format | --wait |
+--------------------+--------+
If the connection cannot be established, wait and retry instead of
aborting.
o --xml, -X
+--------------------+-------+
|Command-Line Format | --xml |
+--------------------+-------+
Produce XML output.
<field name="column_name">NULL</field>
The output when --xml is used with mysql matches that of mysqldump
--xml. See mysqldump(1), for details.
The XML output also uses an XML namespace, as shown here:
$> mysql --xml -uroot -e "SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version%'"
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<resultset statement="SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'version%'" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version</field>
<field name="Value">5.0.40-debug</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_comment</field>
<field name="Value">Source distribution</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_compile_machine</field>
<field name="Value">i686</field>
</row>
<row>
<field name="Variable_name">version_compile_os</field>
<field name="Value">suse-linux-gnu</field>
</row>
</resultset>
o --zstd-compression-level=level
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Command-Line Format | --zstd-compression-level=# |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Introduced | 8.0.18 |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
|Type | Integer |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
The compression level to use for connections to the server that use
the zstd compression algorithm. The permitted levels are from 1 to
22, with larger values indicating increasing levels of compression.
The default zstd compression level is 3. The compression level
setting has no effect on connections that do not use zstd
compression.
For more information, see Section 6.2.8, "Connection Compression
Control".
This option was added in MySQL 8.0.18.
MYSQL CLIENT COMMANDS
mysql sends each SQL statement that you issue to the server to be
executed. There is also a set of commands that mysql itself interprets.
For a list of these commands, type help or \h at the mysql> prompt:
mysql> help
List of all MySQL commands:
Note that all text commands must be first on line and end with ';'
? (\?) Synonym for `help'.
clear (\c) Clear the current input statement.
connect (\r) Reconnect to the server. Optional arguments are db and host.
delimiter (\d) Set statement delimiter.
edit (\e) Edit command with $EDITOR.
ego (\G) Send command to mysql server, display result vertically.
exit (\q) Exit mysql. Same as quit.
go (\g) Send command to mysql server.
help (\h) Display this help.
nopager (\n) Disable pager, print to stdout.
notee (\t) Don't write into outfile.
pager (\P) Set PAGER [to_pager]. Print the query results via PAGER.
print (\p) Print current command.
prompt (\R) Change your mysql prompt.
quit (\q) Quit mysql.
rehash (\#) Rebuild completion hash.
source (\.) Execute an SQL script file. Takes a file name as an argument.
status (\s) Get status information from the server.
system (\!) Execute a system shell command.
tee (\T) Set outfile [to_outfile]. Append everything into given
outfile.
use (\u) Use another database. Takes database name as argument.
charset (\C) Switch to another charset. Might be needed for processing
binlog with multi-byte charsets.
warnings (\W) Show warnings after every statement.
nowarning (\w) Don't show warnings after every statement.
resetconnection(\x) Clean session context.
query_attributes Sets string parameters (name1 value1 name2 value2 ...)
for the next query to pick up.
ssl_session_data_print Serializes the current SSL session data to stdout
or file.
For server side help, type 'help contents'
If mysql is invoked with the --binary-mode option, all mysql commands
are disabled except charset and delimiter in noninteractive mode (for
input piped to mysql or loaded using the source command).
Each command has both a long and short form. The long form is not
case-sensitive; the short form is. The long form can be followed by an
optional semicolon terminator, but the short form should not.
The use of short-form commands within multiple-line /* ... */ comments
is not supported. Short-form commands do work within single-line /*!
... */ version comments, as do /*+ ... */ optimizer-hint comments,
which are stored in object definitions. If there is a concern that
optimizer-hint comments may be stored in object definitions so that
dump files when reloaded with mysql would result in execution of such
commands, either invoke mysql with the --binary-mode option or use a
reload client other than mysql.
o help [arg], \h [arg], \? [arg], ? [arg]
Display a help message listing the available mysql commands.
If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
search string to access server-side help from the contents of the
MySQL Reference Manual. For more information, see the section
called "MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP".
o charset charset_name, \C charset_name
Change the default character set and issue a SET NAMES statement.
This enables the character set to remain synchronized on the client
and server if mysql is run with auto-reconnect enabled (which is
not recommended), because the specified character set is used for
reconnects.
o clear, \c
Clear the current input. Use this if you change your mind about
executing the statement that you are entering.
o connect [db_name [host_name]], \r [db_name [host_name]]
Reconnect to the server. The optional database name and host name
arguments may be given to specify the default database or the host
where the server is running. If omitted, the current values are
used.
If the connect command specifies a host name argument, that host
takes precedence over any --dns-srv-name option given at mysql
startup to specify a DNS SRV record.
o delimiter str, \d str
Change the string that mysql interprets as the separator between
SQL statements. The default is the semicolon character (;).
The delimiter string can be specified as an unquoted or quoted
argument on the delimiter command line. Quoting can be done with
either single quote ('), double quote ("), or backtick (`)
characters. To include a quote within a quoted string, either quote
the string with a different quote character or escape the quote
with a backslash (\) character. Backslash should be avoided outside
of quoted strings because it is the escape character for MySQL. For
an unquoted argument, the delimiter is read up to the first space
or end of line. For a quoted argument, the delimiter is read up to
the matching quote on the line.
mysql interprets instances of the delimiter string as a statement
delimiter anywhere it occurs, except within quoted strings. Be
careful about defining a delimiter that might occur within other
words. For example, if you define the delimiter as X, it is not
possible to use the word INDEX in statements. mysql interprets
this as INDE followed by the delimiter X.
When the delimiter recognized by mysql is set to something other
than the default of ;, instances of that character are sent to the
server without interpretation. However, the server itself still
interprets ; as a statement delimiter and processes statements
accordingly. This behavior on the server side comes into play for
multiple-statement execution (see Multiple Statement Execution
Support[3]), and for parsing the body of stored procedures and
functions, triggers, and events (see Section 27.1, "Defining Stored
Programs").
o edit, \e
Edit the current input statement. mysql checks the values of the
EDITOR and VISUAL environment variables to determine which editor
to use. The default editor is vi if neither variable is set.
The edit command works only in Unix.
o ego, \G
Send the current statement to the server to be executed and display
the result using vertical format.
o exit, \q
Exit mysql.
o go, \g
Send the current statement to the server to be executed.
o nopager, \n
Disable output paging. See the description for pager.
The nopager command works only in Unix.
o notee, \t
Disable output copying to the tee file. See the description for
tee.
o nowarning, \w
Disable display of warnings after each statement.
o pager [command], \P [command]
Enable output paging. By using the --pager option when you invoke
mysql, it is possible to browse or search query results in
interactive mode with Unix programs such as less, more, or any
other similar program. If you specify no value for the option,
mysql checks the value of the PAGER environment variable and sets
the pager to that. Pager functionality works only in interactive
mode.
Output paging can be enabled interactively with the pager command
and disabled with nopager. The command takes an optional argument;
if given, the paging program is set to that. With no argument, the
pager is set to the pager that was set on the command line, or
stdout if no pager was specified.
Output paging works only in Unix because it uses the popen()
function, which does not exist on Windows. For Windows, the tee
option can be used instead to save query output, although it is not
as convenient as pager for browsing output in some situations.
o print, \p
Print the current input statement without executing it.
o prompt [str], \R [str]
Reconfigure the mysql prompt to the given string. The special
character sequences that can be used in the prompt are described
later in this section.
If you specify the prompt command with no argument, mysql resets
the prompt to the default of mysql>.
o query_attributes name value [name value ...]
Define query attributes that apply to the next query sent to the
server. For discussion of the purpose and use of query attributes,
see Section 11.6, "Query Attributes".
The query_attributes command follows these rules:
o The format and quoting rules for attribute names and values are
the same as for the delimiter command.
o The command permits up to 32 attribute name/value pairs. Names
and values may be up to 1024 characters long. If a name is
given without a value, an error occurs.
o If multiple query_attributes commands are issued prior to query
execution, only the last command applies. After sending the
query, mysql clears the attribute set.
o If multiple attributes are defined with the same name, attempts
to retrieve the attribute value have an undefined result.
o An attribute defined with an empty name cannot be retrieved by
name.
o If a reconnect occurs while mysql executes the query, mysql
restores the attributes after reconnecting so the query can be
executed again with the same attributes.
o quit, \q
Exit mysql.
o rehash, \#
Rebuild the completion hash that enables database, table, and
column name completion while you are entering statements. (See the
description for the --auto-rehash option.)
o resetconnection, \x
Reset the connection to clear the session state. This includes
clearing any current query attributes defined using the
query_attributes command.
Resetting a connection has effects similar to mysql_change_user()
or an auto-reconnect except that the connection is not closed and
reopened, and re-authentication is not done. See
mysql_change_user()[4], and Automatic Reconnection Control[5].
This example shows how resetconnection clears a value maintained in
the session state:
mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID(3);
+-------------------+
| LAST_INSERT_ID(3) |
+-------------------+
| 3 |
+-------------------+
mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID();
+------------------+
| LAST_INSERT_ID() |
+------------------+
| 3 |
+------------------+
mysql> resetconnection;
mysql> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID();
+------------------+
| LAST_INSERT_ID() |
+------------------+
| 0 |
+------------------+
o source file_name, \. file_name
Read the named file and executes the statements contained therein.
On Windows, specify path name separators as / or \\.
Quote characters are taken as part of the file name itself. For
best results, the name should not include space characters.
o ssl_session_data_print [file_name]
Fetches, serializes, and optionally stores the session data of a
successful connection. The optional file name and arguments may be
given to specify the file to store serialized session data. If
omitted, the session data is printed to stdout.
If the MySQL session is configured for reuse, session data from the
file is deserialized and supplied to the connect command to
reconnect. When the session is reused successfully, the status
command contains a row showing SSL session reused: true while the
client remains reconnected to the server.
o status, \s
Provide status information about the connection and the server you
are using. If you are running with --safe-updates enabled, status
also prints the values for the mysql variables that affect your
queries.
o system command, \! command
Execute the given command using your default command interpreter.
Prior to MySQL 8.0.19, the system command works only in Unix. As of
8.0.19, it also works on Windows.
In MySQL 8.0.40 and later, this command can be disabled by starting
the client with --system-command=OFF or --skip-system-command.
o tee [file_name], \T [file_name]
By using the --tee option when you invoke mysql, you can log
statements and their output. All the data displayed on the screen
is appended into a given file. This can be very useful for
debugging purposes also. mysql flushes results to the file after
each statement, just before it prints its next prompt. Tee
functionality works only in interactive mode.
You can enable this feature interactively with the tee command.
Without a parameter, the previous file is used. The tee file can be
disabled with the notee command. Executing tee again re-enables
logging.
o use db_name, \u db_name
Use db_name as the default database.
o warnings, \W
Enable display of warnings after each statement (if there are any).
Here are a few tips about the pager command:
o You can use it to write to a file and the results go only to the
file:
mysql> pager cat > /tmp/log.txt
You can also pass any options for the program that you want to use
as your pager:
mysql> pager less -n -i -S
o In the preceding example, note the -S option. You may find it very
useful for browsing wide query results. Sometimes a very wide
result set is difficult to read on the screen. The -S option to
less can make the result set much more readable because you can
scroll it horizontally using the left-arrow and right-arrow keys.
You can also use -S interactively within less to switch the
horizontal-browse mode on and off. For more information, read the
less manual page:
man less
o The -F and -X options may be used with less to cause it to exit if
output fits on one screen, which is convenient when no scrolling is
necessary:
mysql> pager less -n -i -S -F -X
o You can specify very complex pager commands for handling query
output:
mysql> pager cat | tee /dr1/tmp/res.txt \
| tee /dr2/tmp/res2.txt | less -n -i -S
In this example, the command would send query results to two files
in two different directories on two different file systems mounted
on /dr1 and /dr2, yet still display the results onscreen using
less.
You can also combine the tee and pager functions. Have a tee file
enabled and pager set to less, and you are able to browse the results
using the less program and still have everything appended into a file
the same time. The difference between the Unix tee used with the pager
command and the mysql built-in tee command is that the built-in tee
works even if you do not have the Unix tee available. The built-in tee
also logs everything that is printed on the screen, whereas the Unix
tee used with pager does not log quite that much. Additionally, tee
file logging can be turned on and off interactively from within mysql.
This is useful when you want to log some queries to a file, but not
others.
The prompt command reconfigures the default mysql> prompt. The string
for defining the prompt can contain the following special sequences.
r
.br
.br
72
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|Option | Description |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current connection |
| | identifier |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | A counter that increments |
| | for each statement you |
| | issue |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The full current date |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The default database |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The server host |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current delimiter |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | Minutes of the current |
| | time |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | A newline character |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current month in |
| | three-letter format (Jan, |
| | Feb, ...) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current month in |
| | numeric format |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|P | am/pm |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current TCP/IP port or |
| | socket file |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current time, in |
| | 24-hour military time |
| | (0-23) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current time, standard |
| | 12-hour time (1-12) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | Semicolon |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | Seconds of the current |
| | time |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|T | Print an asterisk (*) if |
| | the current session is |
| | inside a |
| | transaction block (from |
| | MySQL 8.0.28) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | A tab character |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|U | |
| | Your full |
| | user_name@host_name |
| | account name |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | Your user name |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The server version |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current day of the |
| | week in three-letter |
| | format (Mon, Tue, ...) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | The current year, four |
| | digits |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|y | The current year, two |
| | digits |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|_ | A space |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|\ | A space (a space follows |
| | the backslash) |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|' | Single quote |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
| | Double quote |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|T}:T{ A literal backslash | |
|character | |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
|\fIx | |
| | x, for any "x" not |
| | listed above |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+
You can set the prompt in several ways:
o Use an environment variable. You can set the MYSQL_PS1 environment
variable to a prompt string. For example:
export MYSQL_PS1="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
o Use a command-line option. You can set the --prompt option on the
command line to mysql. For example:
$> mysql --prompt="(\u@\h) [\d]> "
(user@host) [database]>
o Use an option file. You can set the prompt option in the [mysql]
group of any MySQL option file, such as /etc/my.cnf or the .my.cnf
file in your home directory. For example:
[mysql]
prompt=(\\u@\\h) [\\d]>\\_
In this example, note that the backslashes are doubled. If you set
the prompt using the prompt option in an option file, it is
advisable to double the backslashes when using the special prompt
options. There is some overlap in the set of permissible prompt
options and the set of special escape sequences that are recognized
in option files. (The rules for escape sequences in option files
are listed in Section 6.2.2.2, "Using Option Files".) The overlap
may cause you problems if you use single backslashes. For example,
\s is interpreted as a space rather than as the current seconds
value. The following example shows how to define a prompt within an
option file to include the current time in hh:mm:ss> format:
[mysql]
prompt="\\r:\\m:\\s> "
o Set the prompt interactively. You can change your prompt
interactively by using the prompt (or \R) command. For example:
mysql> prompt (\u@\h) [\d]>\_
PROMPT set to '(\u@\h) [\d]>\_'
(user@host) [database]>
(user@host) [database]> prompt
Returning to default PROMPT of mysql>
mysql>
MYSQL CLIENT LOGGING
The mysql client can do these types of logging for statements executed
interactively:
o On Unix, mysql writes the statements to a history file. By default,
this file is named .mysql_history in your home directory. To
specify a different file, set the value of the MYSQL_HISTFILE
environment variable.
o On all platforms, if the --syslog option is given, mysql writes the
statements to the system logging facility. On Unix, this is syslog;
on Windows, it is the Windows Event Log. The destination where
logged messages appear is system dependent. On Linux, the
destination is often the /var/log/messages file.
The following discussion describes characteristics that apply to all
logging types and provides information specific to each logging type.
o How Logging Occurs
o Controlling the History File
o syslog Logging Characteristics
How Logging Occurs
For each enabled logging destination, statement logging occurs as
follows:
o Statements are logged only when executed interactively. Statements
are noninteractive, for example, when read from a file or a pipe.
It is also possible to suppress statement logging by using the
--batch or --execute option.
o Statements are ignored and not logged if they match any pattern in
the "ignore" list. This list is described later.
o mysql logs each nonignored, nonempty statement line individually.
o If a nonignored statement spans multiple lines (not including the
terminating delimiter), mysql concatenates the lines to form the
complete statement, maps newlines to spaces, and logs the result,
plus a delimiter.
Consequently, an input statement that spans multiple lines can be
logged twice. Consider this input:
mysql> SELECT
-> 'Today is'
-> ,
-> CURDATE()
-> ;
In this case, mysql logs the "SELECT", "'Today is'", ",", "CURDATE()",
and ";" lines as it reads them. It also logs the complete statement,
after mapping SELECT\n'Today is'\n,\nCURDATE() to SELECT 'Today is' ,
CURDATE(), plus a delimiter. Thus, these lines appear in logged output:
SELECT
'Today is'
,
CURDATE()
;
SELECT 'Today is' , CURDATE();
mysql ignores for logging purposes statements that match any pattern in
the "ignore" list. By default, the pattern list is
"*IDENTIFIED*:*PASSWORD*", to ignore statements that refer to
passwords. Pattern matching is not case-sensitive. Within patterns, two
characters are special:
o ? matches any single character.
o * matches any sequence of zero or more characters.
To specify additional patterns, use the --histignore option or set the
MYSQL_HISTIGNORE environment variable. (If both are specified, the
option value takes precedence.) The value should be a list of one or
more colon-separated patterns, which are appended to the default
pattern list.
Patterns specified on the command line might need to be quoted or
escaped to prevent your command interpreter from treating them
specially. For example, to suppress logging for UPDATE and DELETE
statements in addition to statements that refer to passwords, invoke
mysql like this:
mysql --histignore="*UPDATE*:*DELETE*"
Controlling the History File
The .mysql_history file should be protected with a restrictive access
mode because sensitive information might be written to it, such as the
text of SQL statements that contain passwords. See Section 8.1.2.1,
"End-User Guidelines for Password Security". Statements in the file are
accessible from the mysql client when the up-arrow key is used to
recall the history. See Disabling Interactive History.
If you do not want to maintain a history file, first remove
.mysql_history if it exists. Then use either of the following
techniques to prevent it from being created again:
o Set the MYSQL_HISTFILE environment variable to /dev/null. To cause
this setting to take effect each time you log in, put it in one of
your shell's startup files.
o Create .mysql_history as a symbolic link to /dev/null; this need be
done only once:
ln -s /dev/null $HOME/.mysql_history
syslog Logging Characteristics
If the --syslog option is given, mysql writes interactive statements to
the system logging facility. Message logging has the following
characteristics.
Logging occurs at the "information" level. This corresponds to the
LOG_INFO priority for syslog on Unix/Linux syslog capability and to
EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE for the Windows Event Log. Consult your
system documentation for configuration of your logging capability.
Message size is limited to 1024 bytes.
Messages consist of the identifier MysqlClient followed by these
values:
o SYSTEM_USER
The operating system user name (login name) or -- if the user is
unknown.
o MYSQL_USER
The MySQL user name (specified with the --user option) or -- if the
user is unknown.
o CONNECTION_ID:
The client connection identifier. This is the same as the
CONNECTION_ID() function value within the session.
o DB_SERVER
The server host or -- if the host is unknown.
o DB
The default database or -- if no database has been selected.
o QUERY
The text of the logged statement.
Here is a sample of output generated on Linux by using --syslog. This
output is formatted for readability; each logged message actually takes
a single line.
Mar 7 12:39:25 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:
SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,
DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'--', QUERY:'USE test;'
Mar 7 12:39:28 myhost MysqlClient[20824]:
SYSTEM_USER:'oscar', MYSQL_USER:'my_oscar', CONNECTION_ID:23,
DB_SERVER:'127.0.0.1', DB:'test', QUERY:'SHOW TABLES;'
MYSQL CLIENT SERVER-SIDE HELP
mysql> help search_string
If you provide an argument to the help command, mysql uses it as a
search string to access server-side help from the contents of the MySQL
Reference Manual. The proper operation of this command requires that
the help tables in the mysql database be initialized with help topic
information (see Section 7.1.17, "Server-Side Help Support").
If there is no match for the search string, the search fails:
mysql> help me
Nothing found
Please try to run 'help contents' for a list of all accessible topics
Use help contents to see a list of the help categories:
mysql> help contents
You asked for help about help category: "Contents"
For more information, type 'help <item>', where <item> is one of the
following categories:
Account Management
Administration
Data Definition
Data Manipulation
Data Types
Functions
Functions and Modifiers for Use with GROUP BY
Geographic Features
Language Structure
Plugins
Storage Engines
Stored Routines
Table Maintenance
Transactions
Triggers
If the search string matches multiple items, mysql shows a list of
matching topics:
mysql> help logs
Many help items for your request exist.
To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',
where <item> is one of the following topics:
SHOW
SHOW BINARY LOGS
SHOW ENGINE
SHOW LOGS
Use a topic as the search string to see the help entry for that topic:
mysql> help show binary logs
Name: 'SHOW BINARY LOGS'
Description:
Syntax:
SHOW BINARY LOGS
SHOW MASTER LOGS
Lists the binary log files on the server. This statement is used as
part of the procedure described in [purge-binary-logs], that shows how
to determine which logs can be purged.
mysql> SHOW BINARY LOGS;
+---------------+-----------+-----------+
| Log_name | File_size | Encrypted |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+
| binlog.000015 | 724935 | Yes |
| binlog.000016 | 733481 | Yes |
+---------------+-----------+-----------+
The search string can contain the wildcard characters % and _. These
have the same meaning as for pattern-matching operations performed with
the LIKE operator. For example, HELP rep% returns a list of topics that
begin with rep:
mysql> HELP rep%
Many help items for your request exist.
To make a more specific request, please type 'help <item>',
where <item> is one of the following
topics:
REPAIR TABLE
REPEAT FUNCTION
REPEAT LOOP
REPLACE
REPLACE FUNCTION
EXECUTING SQL STATEMENTS FROM A TEXT FILE
The mysql client typically is used interactively, like this:
mysql db_name
However, it is also possible to put your SQL statements in a file and
then tell mysql to read its input from that file. To do so, create a
text file text_file that contains the statements you wish to execute.
Then invoke mysql as shown here:
mysql db_name < text_file
If you place a USE db_name statement as the first statement in the
file, it is unnecessary to specify the database name on the command
line:
mysql < text_file
If you are already running mysql, you can execute an SQL script file
using the source command or \. command:
mysql> source file_name
mysql> \. file_name
Sometimes you may want your script to display progress information to
the user. For this you can insert statements like this:
SELECT '<info_to_display>' AS ' ';
The statement shown outputs <info_to_display>.
You can also invoke mysql with the --verbose option, which causes each
statement to be displayed before the result that it produces.
mysql ignores Unicode byte order mark (BOM) characters at the beginning
of input files. Previously, it read them and sent them to the server,
resulting in a syntax error. Presence of a BOM does not cause mysql to
change its default character set. To do that, invoke mysql with an
option such as --default-character-set=utf8mb4.
For more information about batch mode, see Section 5.5, "Using mysql in
Batch Mode".
MYSQL CLIENT TIPS
This section provides information about techniques for more effective
use of mysql and about mysql operational behavior.
o Input-Line Editing
o Disabling Interactive History
o Unicode Support on Windows
o Displaying Query Results Vertically
o Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates)
o Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect
o mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser
Input-Line Editing
mysql supports input-line editing, which enables you to modify the
current input line in place or recall previous input lines. For
example, the left-arrow and right-arrow keys move horizontally within
the current input line, and the up-arrow and down-arrow keys move up
and down through the set of previously entered lines. Backspace
deletes the character before the cursor and typing new characters
enters them at the cursor position. To enter the line, press Enter.
On Windows, the editing key sequences are the same as supported for
command editing in console windows. On Unix, the key sequences depend
on the input library used to build mysql (for example, the libedit or
readline library).
Documentation for the libedit and readline libraries is available
online. To change the set of key sequences permitted by a given input
library, define key bindings in the library startup file. This is a
file in your home directory: .editrc for libedit and .inputrc for
readline.
For example, in libedit, Control+W deletes everything before the
current cursor position and Control+U deletes the entire line. In
readline, Control+W deletes the word before the cursor and Control+U
deletes everything before the current cursor position. If mysql was
built using libedit, a user who prefers the readline behavior for these
two keys can put the following lines in the .editrc file (creating the
file if necessary):
bind "^W" ed-delete-prev-word
bind "^U" vi-kill-line-prev
To see the current set of key bindings, temporarily put a line that
says only bind at the end of .editrc. mysql shows the bindings when it
starts. Disabling Interactive History
The up-arrow key enables you to recall input lines from current and
previous sessions. In cases where a console is shared, this behavior
may be unsuitable. mysql supports disabling the interactive history
partially or fully, depending on the host platform.
On Windows, the history is stored in memory. Alt+F7 deletes all input
lines stored in memory for the current history buffer. It also deletes
the list of sequential numbers in front of the input lines displayed
with F7 and recalled (by number) with F9. New input lines entered after
you press Alt+F7 repopulate the current history buffer. Clearing the
buffer does not prevent logging to the Windows Event Viewer, if the
--syslog option was used to start mysql. Closing the console window
also clears the current history buffer.
To disable interactive history on Unix, first delete the .mysql_history
file, if it exists (previous entries are recalled otherwise). Then
start mysql with the --histignore="*" option to ignore all new input
lines. To re-enable the recall (and logging) behavior, restart mysql
without the option.
If you prevent the .mysql_history file from being created (see
Controlling the History File) and use --histignore="*" to start the
mysql client, the interactive history recall facility is disabled
fully. Alternatively, if you omit the --histignore option, you can
recall the input lines entered during the current session. Unicode
Support on Windows
Windows provides APIs based on UTF-16LE for reading from and writing to
the console; the mysql client for Windows is able to use these APIs.
The Windows installer creates an item in the MySQL menu named MySQL
command line client - Unicode. This item invokes the mysql client with
properties set to communicate through the console to the MySQL server
using Unicode.
To take advantage of this support manually, run mysql within a console
that uses a compatible Unicode font and set the default character set
to a Unicode character set that is supported for communication with the
server:
1. Open a console window.
2. Go to the console window properties, select the font tab, and
choose Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font. This
is necessary because console windows start by default using a DOS
raster font that is inadequate for Unicode.
3. Execute mysql.exe with the --default-character-set=utf8mb4 (or
utf8mb3) option. This option is necessary because utf16le is one of
the character sets that cannot be used as the client character set.
See the section called "Impermissible Client Character Sets".
With those changes, mysql uses the Windows APIs to communicate with the
console using UTF-16LE, and communicate with the server using UTF-8.
(The menu item mentioned previously sets the font and character set as
just described.)
To avoid those steps each time you run mysql, you can create a shortcut
that invokes mysql.exe. The shortcut should set the console font to
Lucida Console or some other compatible Unicode font, and pass the
--default-character-set=utf8mb4 (or utf8mb3) option to mysql.exe.
Alternatively, create a shortcut that only sets the console font, and
set the character set in the [mysql] group of your my.ini file:
[mysql]
default-character-set=utf8mb4 # or utf8mb3
Displaying Query Results Vertically
Some query results are much more readable when displayed vertically,
instead of in the usual horizontal table format. Queries can be
displayed vertically by terminating the query with \G instead of a
semicolon. For example, longer text values that include newlines often
are much easier to read with vertical output:
mysql> SELECT * FROM mails WHERE LENGTH(txt) < 300 LIMIT 300,1\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
msg_nro: 3068
date: 2000-03-01 23:29:50
time_zone: +0200
mail_from: Jones
reply: jones@example.com
mail_to: "John Smith" <smith@example.com>
sbj: UTF-8
txt: >>>>> "John" == John Smith writes:
John> Hi. I think this is a good idea. Is anyone familiar
John> with UTF-8 or Unicode? Otherwise, I'll put this on my
John> TODO list and see what happens.
Yes, please do that.
Regards,
Jones
file: inbox-jani-1
hash: 190402944
1 row in set (0.09 sec)
Using Safe-Updates Mode (--safe-updates)
For beginners, a useful startup option is --safe-updates (or
--i-am-a-dummy, which has the same effect). Safe-updates mode is
helpful for cases when you might have issued an UPDATE or DELETE
statement but forgotten the WHERE clause indicating which rows to
modify. Normally, such statements update or delete all rows in the
table. With --safe-updates, you can modify rows only by specifying the
key values that identify them, or a LIMIT clause, or both. This helps
prevent accidents. Safe-updates mode also restricts SELECT statements
that produce (or are estimated to produce) very large result sets.
The --safe-updates option causes mysql to execute the following
statement when it connects to the MySQL server, to set the session
values of the sql_safe_updates, sql_select_limit, and max_join_size
system variables:
SET sql_safe_updates=1, sql_select_limit=1000, max_join_size=1000000;
The SET statement affects statement processing as follows:
o Enabling sql_safe_updates causes UPDATE and DELETE statements to
produce an error if they do not specify a key constraint in the
WHERE clause, or provide a LIMIT clause, or both. For example:
UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val WHERE key_column=val;
UPDATE tbl_name SET not_key_column=val LIMIT 1;
o Setting sql_select_limit to 1,000 causes the server to limit all
SELECT result sets to 1,000 rows unless the statement includes a
LIMIT clause.
o Setting max_join_size to 1,000,000 causes multiple-table SELECT
statements to produce an error if the server estimates it must
examine more than 1,000,000 row combinations.
To specify result set limits different from 1,000 and 1,000,000, you
can override the defaults by using the --select-limit and
--max-join-size options when you invoke mysql:
mysql --safe-updates --select-limit=500 --max-join-size=10000
It is possible for UPDATE and DELETE statements to produce an error in
safe-updates mode even with a key specified in the WHERE clause, if the
optimizer decides not to use the index on the key column:
o Range access on the index cannot be used if memory usage exceeds
that permitted by the range_optimizer_max_mem_size system variable.
The optimizer then falls back to a table scan. See the section
called "Limiting Memory Use for Range Optimization".
o If key comparisons require type conversion, the index may not be
used (see Section 10.3.1, "How MySQL Uses Indexes"). Suppose that
an indexed string column c1 is compared to a numeric value using
WHERE c1 = 2222. For such comparisons, the string value is
converted to a number and the operands are compared numerically
(see Section 14.3, "Type Conversion in Expression Evaluation"),
preventing use of the index. If safe-updates mode is enabled, an
error occurs.
As of MySQL 8.0.13, safe-updates mode also includes these behaviors:
o EXPLAIN with UPDATE and DELETE statements does not produce
safe-updates errors. This enables use of EXPLAIN plus SHOW WARNINGS
to see why an index is not used, which can be helpful in cases such
as when a range_optimizer_max_mem_size violation or type conversion
occurs and the optimizer does not use an index even though a key
column was specified in the WHERE clause.
o When a safe-updates error occurs, the error message includes the
first diagnostic that was produced, to provide information about
the reason for failure. For example, the message may indicate that
the range_optimizer_max_mem_size value was exceeded or type
conversion occurred, either of which can preclude use of an index.
o For multiple-table deletes and updates, an error is produced with
safe updates enabled only if any target table uses a table scan.
Disabling mysql Auto-Reconnect
If the mysql client loses its connection to the server while sending a
statement, it immediately and automatically tries to reconnect once to
the server and send the statement again. However, even if mysql
succeeds in reconnecting, your first connection has ended and all your
previous session objects and settings are lost: temporary tables, the
autocommit mode, and user-defined and session variables. Also, any
current transaction rolls back. This behavior may be dangerous for you,
as in the following example where the server was shut down and
restarted between the first and second statements without you knowing
it:
mysql> SET @a=1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)
mysql> INSERT INTO t VALUES(@a);
ERROR 2006: MySQL server has gone away
No connection. Trying to reconnect...
Connection id: 1
Current database: test
Query OK, 1 row affected (1.30 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM t;
+------+
| a |
+------+
| NULL |
+------+
1 row in set (0.05 sec)
The @a user variable has been lost with the connection, and after the
reconnection it is undefined. If it is important to have mysql
terminate with an error if the connection has been lost, you can start
the mysql client with the --skip-reconnect option.
For more information about auto-reconnect and its effect on state
information when a reconnection occurs, see Automatic Reconnection
Control[5]. mysql Client Parser Versus Server Parser
The mysql client uses a parser on the client side that is not a
duplicate of the complete parser used by the mysqld server on the
server side. This can lead to differences in treatment of certain
constructs. Examples:
o The server parser treats strings delimited by " characters as
identifiers rather than as plain strings if the ANSI_QUOTES SQL
mode is enabled.
The mysql client parser does not take the ANSI_QUOTES SQL mode into
account. It treats strings delimited by ", ', and ` characters the
same, regardless of whether ANSI_QUOTES is enabled.
o Within /*! ... */ and /*+ ... */ comments, the mysql client parser
interprets short-form mysql commands. The server parser does not
interpret them because these commands have no meaning on the server
side.
If it is desirable for mysql not to interpret short-form commands
within comments, a partial workaround is to use the --binary-mode
option, which causes all mysql commands to be disabled except \C
and \d in noninteractive mode (for input piped to mysql or loaded
using the source command).
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1997, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates.
This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
NOTES
1. MySQL Shell 8.0
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-shell/8.0/en/
2. C API Basic Data Structures
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.0/en/c-api-data-structures.html
3. Multiple Statement Execution Support
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.0/en/c-api-multiple-queries.html
4. mysql_change_user()
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.0/en/mysql-change-user.html
5. Automatic Reconnection Control
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/c-api/8.0/en/c-api-auto-reconnect.html
SEE ALSO
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
Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).
MySQL 8.0 12/13/2024 MYSQL(1)
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