mysql_install_db

mysql_install_db initializes the MariaDB data directory and creates the system tables in the mysql database, if they do not exist. MariaDB uses these tables to manage privileges, roles, and plugins. It also uses them to provide the data for the help command in the mysql client.

mysql_install_db works by starting MariaDB Server's mysqld process in --bootstrap mode and sending commands to create the system tables and their content.

There is a version specifically for Windows, mysql_install_db.exe. Windows version shares the common theme (creating system tables), yes has a lot functionality are specific to Windows systems , for example creating Windows service. Windows version does *not* share parameters with the Unix shell script, and if you are looking for Windows specific instruction, refer to mysql_install_db.exe instead of reading this page.

From MariaDB 10.4.6, mariadb-install-db is a symlink to mysql_install_db.

From MariaDB 10.5.2, mysqld_install_db is the symlink, and mariadb-install-db the binary name.

Using mysqld_install_db

To invoke mysql_install_db, use the following syntax:

$ mysql_install_db [options]

Because the MariaDB 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:

$ scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql \
   --basedir=/opt/mysql/mysql \
   --datadir=/opt/mysql/mysql/data

Options

mysql_install_db supports the following options:

Option Files

In addition to reading options from the command-line, mysql_install_db can also read options from option files. If an unknown option is provided to mysql_install_db in an option file, then it is ignored.

The following options relate to how MariaDB command-line tools handles option files. They must be given as the first argument on the command-line:

Option Groups

mysql_install_db reads options from the following option groups from option files:

mysql_install_db also reads options from the following server option groups from option files:

Installing System Tables

Installing System Tables From a Source Tree

If you have just compiled MariaDB from source, and if you want to use mysql_install_db from your source tree, then that can be done without having to actually install MariaDB. This is very useful if you want to test your changes to MariaDB without disturbing any existing installations of MariaDB.

To do so, you would have to provide the --srcdir option. For example:

./scripts/mysql_install_db --srcdir=. --datadir=path-to-temporary-data-dir

Installing System Tables From a Binary Tarball

If you install a binary tarball package in a non standard path, like your home directory, and if you already have a MariaDB / MySQL package installed, then you may get conflicts with the default /etc/my.cnf. This often results in permissions errors.

One possible solution is to use the --no-defaults option, so that it does not read any option files. For example:

./scripts/mysql_install_db --no-defaults --basedir=. --datadir=data

Another possible solution is to use the defaults-file option, so that you can specify your own option file. For example:

./scripts/mysql_install_db --defaults-file=~/.my.cnf

User Accounts Created by Default

CREATE USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA unix_socket OR mysql_native_password USING 'invalid';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
GRANT PROXY ON ''@'%' TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

CREATE USER 'mysql'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA unix_socket OR mysql_native_password USING 'invalid';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'mysql'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

$ sudo yum install MariaDB-server
$ sudo systemctl start mariadb
$ sudo mysql
...
MariaDB> SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('XH4VmT3_jt');

CREATE USER 'root'@'localhost';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
GRANT PROXY ON ''@'%' TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

$ sudo yum install MariaDB-server
$ sudo systemctl start mariadb
$ mysql -u root
...
MariaDB> SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('XH4VmT3_jt');

Troubleshooting Issues

Checking the Error Log

If mysql_install_db fails, you should examine the error log in the data directory, which is the directory specified with --datadir option. This should provide a clue about what went wrong.

Testing With mysqld

You can also test that this is not a general fault of MariaDB Server by trying to start the mysqld process. The -skip-grant-tables option will tell it to ignore the system tables. Enabling the general query log can help you determine what queries are being run on the server. For example:

mysqld --skip-grant-tables --general-log

At this point, you can use the mysql client to connect to the mysql database and look at the system tables. For example:

$ /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root mysql
MariaDB [mysql]> show tables

Using a Server Compiled With --disable-grant-options

The following only apply in the exceptional case that you are using a mysqld server which is configured with the --disable-grant-options option:

mysql_install_db needs to invoke mysqld with the --bootstrap and --skip-grant-tables options. A MariaDB configured with the --disable-grant-options option has --bootstrap and --skip-grant-tables disabled. To handle this case, set the MYSQLD_BOOTSTRAP environment variable to the full path name of a mysqld server that is configured without --disable-grant-options. mysql_install_db will use that server.

See Also

• Installing system tables (mysql_install_db)
• The Windows version of mysql_install_db: mysql_install_db.exe