The MySQL programs mysql, mysqladmin, mysqld, mysqld_safe, mysql.server, mysqldump, mysqlimport, mysqlshow, mysqlcheck, myisamchk, and myisampack all support the use of a common options file.
You can set options on a global basis, on a server basis, on a user-by- user basis, or all by of these.
The syntax of the file begins with the name of the program in square brackets, followed by options for that program. Comments start with # . Each option may be expressed as option , option = value , or set-variable option = value .
You can obtain a complete list of options to mysqld with mysqld --help .
You can run multiple MySQL servers on the same physical machine as long as options are set to avoid clashes . You must set up different ports, sockets, and log files for each server.
You can use the options file to set the default character set and collation for the server. The character set is the set of symbols used. The collation is the sort order.
