The MySQL configuration file, e.g. /etc/my.cnf has a number of different section headings including [mysql], [mysqld], [mysqld_safe]. It is important that you ensure you put the right variables into the right section. For example, the following my.cnf configuration file will not operate as the user probably expects.
[mysqld] ... log-bin=mysql-bin server-id=1 query_cache_size = 100M query_cache_type = 1 ... [mysqld_safe] ... key_buffer_size=600M skip-innodb ...
In this example, this configuration does not give you a MyISAM key buffer of 600M, it’s actually the default of 8M.
mysql> show global variables like 'key_buffer_size'; +-----------------+---------+ | Variable_name | Value | +-----------------+---------+ | key_buffer_size | 8388600 | +-----------------+---------+
Be sure to add the right options to the [mysqld] section.
What I didn’t know until yesterday was that some programs read from multiple groups. From the 5.1.2. Server Command Options MySQL reference manual page. In helping the describe the problem for the benefit of readers I actually learned something new myself.
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mysqld reads options from the [mysqld] and [server] groups. mysqld_safe reads options from the [mysqld], [server], [mysqld_safe], and [safe_mysqld] groups. mysql.server reads options from the [mysqld] and [mysql.server] groups.
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I have for example always put log-error in both the [mysqld_safe] and [mysql]d sections because both of these write different errors. Seems that is unnecessary.