> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/product-development/mariadb-internals/using-mariadb-with-your-programs-api/libmysqld/mariadb-test-and-mariadb-test-embedded.md).
# The mariadb-test and mariadb-test-embedded Programs
{% hint style="info" %}
This page contains background information for MariaDB developers.
{% endhint %}
The `mariadb-test` program runs a test case against a MariaDB or MySQL server and optionally compares the output with a result file. This program reads input written in a special test language. Typically, you invoke `mariadb-test` via [mariadb-test-run.pl](https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb-test-runpl) rather than invoking it directly.
`mariadb-test_embedded` is similar but is built with support for the `libmariadbd` embedded server.
Features of mariadb-test:
* Can send SQL statements to the server for execution
* Can execute external shell commands
* Can test whether the result from an SQL statement or shell command is as expected
* Can connect to one or more standalone mariadbd servers and switch\
between connections
* Can connect to an embedded server (`libmariadbd`), if MariaDB is compiled\
with support for `libmariadbd`. (In this case, the executable is named\
`mariadb-test_embedded` rather than `mariadb-test`.)
By default, `mariadb-test` reads the test case on the standard input. To run\
mariadb-test this way, you normally invoke it like this:
```bash
shell> mariadb-test **[options] [db_name]** < //test_file//
```
You can also name the test case file with a`--test-file=file_name` option.
The exit value from `mariadb-test` is `0` for success, `1` for failure, and `62` if it\
skips the test case (for example, if after checking some preconditions it\
decides not to run the test).
## Options
`mariadb-test` supports the following options:
| Option | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| --help, -? | Display a help message and exit. |
| --basedir=dir, -b dir | The base directory for tests. |
| --character-sets-dir=path | The directory where [character sets](https://github.com/mariadb-corporation/docs-server/blob/test/general-resources/community/data-types/string-data-types/character-sets/README.md) are installed. |
| --compress, -C | Compress all information sent between the client and the server if both support compression. |
| --connect-timeout=N | This can be used to set the `MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT` parameter of `mysql_options` to change the number of seconds before an unsuccessful connection attempt times out. |
| --continue-on-error | Continue test even if we got an error. This is mostly useful when testing a storage engine to see what from a test file it can execute, or to find all syntax errors in a newly created big test file |
| --cursor-protocol | Use cursors for prepared statements. |
| --database=db\_name, -D db\_name | The default database to use. |
| --debug\[=debug\_options], -#\[debug\_options] | Write a debugging log if MariaDB is built with debugging support. The default `debug_options` value is `d:t:S:i:O,/tmp/mysqltest.trace` on Unix, and `d:t:i:O,\mysqld.trace` on Windows. |
| --debug-check | Print some debugging information when the program exits. |
| --debug-info | Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits. |
| --host=host\_name, -h host\_name | Connect to the server on the given host. |
| --logdir=dir\_name | The directory to use for log files. |
| --mark-progress | Write the line number and elapsed time to test\_file.progress. |
| --max-connect-retries=num | The maximum number of connection attempts when connecting to server. |
| --max-connections=num | The maximum number of simultaneous server connections per client (that is, per test). If not set, the maximum is 128. Minimum allowed limit is 8, maximum is 5120. |
| --no-defaults | Do not read default options from any option files. If used, this must be the first option. |
| --non-blocking-api | Use the non-blocking client API for communication. |
| --overlay-dir=name | Overlay directory. |
| --password\[=password], -p\[password] | The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (`-p`), you cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following the `--password` or `-p` option on the command line, you are prompted for one. |
| plugin-dir | Directory for client-side plugins. |
| --port=port\_num, -P port\_num | The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection, or `0` for default to, in order of preference, `my.cnf`, `$MYSQL_TCP_PORT`, `/etc/services`, built-in default (`3306`). |
| --prologue=name | Include the contents of the given file before processing the contents of the test file. The included file should have the same format as other `mariadb-test` test files. This option has the same effect as putting a ` --source`` `` `*`file_name`* command as the first line of the test file. |
| --protocol=name | The protocol to use for connection (`tcp`, `socket`, `pipe`, `memory`). |
| --ps-protocol | Use the prepared-statement protocol for communication. |
| --quiet | Suppress all normal output. This is a synonym for `--silent`. |
| --record, -r | Record the output that results from running the test file into the file named by the `--result-file` option, if that option is given. It is an error to use this option without also using `--result-file`. |
| --result-file=file\_name, -R file\_name | This option specifies the file for test case expected results. `--result-file`, together with `--record`, determines how mariadb-test treats the test actual and expected results for a test case:If the test produces no results, mariadb-test exits with an error message to that effect, unless `--result-file` is given and the named file is an empty file.Otherwise, if `--result-file` is not given, `mariadb-test` sends test results to the standard output. With `--result-file` but not `--record`, `mariadb-test` reads the expected results from the given file and compares them with the actual results. If the results do not match, mariadb-test writes a reject file in the same directory as the result file, outputs a diff of the two files, and exits with an error. With both `--result-file` and `--record`, `mariadb-test` updates the given file by writing the actual test results to it. |
| --result-format-version=# | Version of the result file format to use. |
| --server-arg=value, -A value | Pass the argument as an argument to the embedded server. For example, `--server-arg=--tmpdir=/tmp` or `--server-arg=--core`. Up to 64 arguments can be given. |
| --server-file=file\_name, -F file\_name | Read arguments for the embedded server from the given file. The file should contain one argument per line. |
| --shared-memory-base-name | Shared-memory name to use for Windows connections using shared memory to a local server (started with the `--shared-memory` option). Case-sensitive. |
| --silent, -s | Suppress all normal output. |
| --sleep=num, -T num | Cause all sleep commands in the test case file to sleep num seconds. This option does not affect real\_sleep commands. An option value of `0` can be used, which effectively disables sleep commands in the test case. |
| --socket=path, -S path | The socket file to use when connecting to localhost (which is the default host). |
| --sp-protocol | Execute DML statements within a stored procedure. For every DML statement, mariadb-test creates and invokes a stored procedure that executes the statement rather than executing the statement directly. |
| --ssl | Enable [TLS for secure connection](https://github.com/mariadb-corporation/docs-server/blob/test/general-resources/security/securing-mariadb/securing-mariadb-encryption/data-in-transit-encryption/secure-connections-overview.md) (automatically enabled with other flags). Disable with `--skip-ssl`. |
| --ssl-ca=name | CA file in PEM format (check OpenSSL docs, implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-capath=name | CA directory (check OpenSSL docs, implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-cert=name | X509 cert in PEM format (implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-cipher=name | SSL cipher to use (implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-key=name | X509 key in PEM format (implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-crl=name | Certificate revocation list (implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-crlpath=name | Certificate revocation list path (implies `--ssl`). |
| --ssl-verify-server-cert | Verify server's "Common Name" in its cert against hostname used when connecting. This option is disabled by default. |
| --suite-dir=name | Suite directory. |
| --tail-lines=nn | Specify how many lines of the result to include in the output if the test fails because an SQL statement fails. The default is `0`, meaning no lines of result printed. |
| --test-file=file\_name, -x file\_name | Read test input from this file. The default is to read from the standard input. |
| --timer-file=file\_name, -m file\_name | If given, the number of microseconds spent running the test will be written to this file. This is used by [mariadb-test-run.pl](https://github.com/mariadb-corporation/docs-server/blob/test/general-resources/community/mariadb-internals/using-mariadb-with-your-programs-api/libmysqld/mariadb-test-runpl-options/README.md) for its reporting. |
| --tmpdir=dir\_name, -t dir\_name | The temporary directory where socket files are created. |
| --user=user\_name, -u user\_name | The user name to use when connecting to the server. |
| --verbose, -v | Verbose mode. Print out more information about what the program does. |
| --version, -V | Display version information and exit. |
| --view-protocol | Every `SELECT` statement is wrapped inside a view. |
| --wait-longer-for-timeouts | Wait longer for timeouts. Useful when running under valgrind. |
## See Also
* [New Features for mysqltest in MariaDB](https://github.com/mariadb-corporation/docs-server/blob/test/general-resources/clients-and-utilities/mariadb-test/new-features-for-mysqltest-in-mariadb.md)
*This page is licensed: GPLv2*
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