mysql_install_db

mysql_install_db initializes the MySQL data directory and creates the system tables that it contains, if they do not exist.

To invoke mysql_install_db, use the following syntax:

shell> mysql_install_db [options]

Because the MySQL server, mysqld, needs to access the data directory when it runs later, you should either run mysql_install_db from the same account that will be used for running mysqld or run it as root and use the --user option to indicate the user name that mysqld will run as. It might be necessary to specify other options such as --basedir or --datadir if mysql_install_db does not use the correct locations for the installation directory or data directory. For example:

shell> bin/mysql_install_db --user=mysql \
--basedir=/opt/mysql/mysql \
--datadir=/opt/mysql/mysql/data

mysql_install_db needs to invoke mysqld with the --bootstrap and --skip-grant-tables options (see Section 2.3.2, “Typical configure Options”). If MySQL was configured with the --disable-grant-options option, --bootstrap and --skip-grant-tables will be disabled. To handle this, set the MYSQLD_BOOTSTRAP environment variable to the full path name of a server that has all options enabled. mysql_install_db will use that server.

mysql_install_db supports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the [mysql_install_db] and (if they are common to mysqld) [mysqld] option file groups.

• --basedir=path
  • The path to the MySQL installation directory.
• --force
  • Cause mysql_install_db to run even if DNS does not work. In that case, grant table entries that normally use host names will use IP addresses.
• --datadir=path, --ldata=path
  • The path to the MySQL data directory.
• --rpm
  • For internal use. This option is used by RPM files during the MySQL installation process.
• --skip-name-resolve
  • Use IP addresses rather than host names when creating grant table entries. This option can be useful if your DNS does not work.
• --srcdir=path
  • For internal use. The directory under which mysql_install_db looks for support files such as the error message file and the file for populating the help tables. This option was added in MySQL 5.1.14.
• --user=user_name
  • The login user name to use for running mysqld. Files and directories created by mysqld will be owned by this user. You must be root to use this option. By default, mysqld runs using your current login name and files and directories that it creates will be owned by you.
• --verbose
  • Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does.
• --windows
  • For internal use. This option is used for creating Windows distributions.