mysql_config_editor - configure authentication information for connecting to MySQL server
The
mysql_config_editor
utility (available as of MySQL 5.6.6) enables you to store authentication credentials in an encrypted login path file named
.mylogin.cnf. The file location is the
%APPDATA%\MySQL
directory on Windows and the current user's home directory on non-Windows systems. The file can be read later by MySQL client programs to obtain authentication credentials for connecting to MySQL Server.
The unencrypted format of the
.mylogin.cnf
login path file consists of option groups, similar to other option files. Each option group in
.mylogin.cnf
is called a
lqlogin path,rq
which is a group that permits only certain options:
host,
user,
password,
port
and
socket. Think of a login path option group as a set of options that specify which MySQL server to connect to and which account to authenticate as. Here is an unencrypted example:
-
[client]
user = mydefaultname
password = mydefaultpass
host = 127.0.0.1
[mypath]
user = myothername
password = myotherpass
host = localhost
When you invoke a client program to connect to the server, the client uses
.mylogin.cnf
in conjunction with other option files. Its precedence is higher than other option files, but less than options specified explicitly on the client command line. For information about the order in which option files are used, see
Section 4.2.6, lqUsing Option Filesrq.
To specify an alternate login path file name, set the
MYSQL_TEST_LOGIN_FILE
environment variable. This variable is recognized by
mysql_config_editor, by standard MySQL clients (mysql,
mysqladmin, and so forth), and by the
mysql-test-run.pl
testing utility.
Programs use groups in the login path file as follows:
-
*
mysql_config_editor
operates on the
client
login path by default if you specify no
--login-path=name
option to indicate explicitly which login path to use.
-
*
Without a
--login-path
option, client programs read the same option groups from the login path file that they read from other option files. Consider this command:
-
shell> mysql
By default, the
mysql
client reads the
[client]
and
[mysql]
groups from other option files, so it reads them from the login path file as well.
-
*
With a
--login-path
option, client programs additionally read the named login path from the login path file. The option groups read from other option files remain the same. Consider this command:
-
shell> mysql --login-path=mypath
The
mysql
client reads
[client]
and
[mysql]
from other option files, and
[client],
[mysql], and
[mypath]
from the login path file.
-
*
Client programs read the login path file even when the
--no-defaults
option is used. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way than on the command line even if
--no-defaults
is present.
mysql_config_editor
encrypts the
.mylogin.cnf
file so it cannot be read as cleartext, and its contents when decrypted by client programs are used only in memory. In this way, passwords can be stored in a file in non-cleartext format and used later without ever needing to be exposed on the command line or in an environment variable.
mysql_config_editor
provides a
print
command for displaying the login path file contents, but even in this case, password values are masked so as never to appear in a way that other users can see them.
The encryption used by
mysql_config_editor
prevents passwords from appearing in
.mylogin.cnf
as cleartext and provides a measure of security by preventing inadvertent password exposure. For example, if you display a regular unencrypted
my.cnf
option file on the screen, any passwords it contains are visible for anyone to see. With
.mylogin.cnf, that is not true. But the encryption used will not deter a determined attacker and you should not consider it unbreakable. A user who can gain system administration privileges on your machine to access your files could decrypt the
.mylogin.cnf
file with some effort.
The login path file must be readable and writable to the current user, and inaccessible to other users. Otherwise,
mysql_config_editor
ignores it, and client programs do not use it, either.
Invoke
mysql_config_editor
like this:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor [program_options] command [command_options]
If the login path file does not exist,
mysql_config_editor
creates it.
Command arguments are given as follows:
-
*
program_options
consists of general
mysql_config_editor
options.
-
*
command
indicates what action to perform on the
.mylogin.cnf
login path file. For example,
set
writes a login path to the file,
remove
removes a login path, and
print
displays login path contents.
-
*
command_options
indicates any additional options specific to the command, such as the login path name and the values to use in the login path.
The position of the command name within the set of program arguments is significant. For example, these command lines have the same arguments, but produce different results:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor --help set
shell> mysql_config_editor set --help
The first command line displays a general
mysql_config_editor
help message, and ignores the
set
command. The second command line displays a help message specific to the
set
command.
Suppose that you want to establish a
client
login path that defines your default connection parameters, and an additional login path named
remote
for connecting to the MySQL server the host
remote.example.com. You want to log in as follows:
-
*
By default, to the local server with a user name and password of
localuser
and
localpass
-
*
To the remote server with a user name and password of
remoteuser
and
remotepass
To set up the login paths in the
.mylogin.cnf
file, use the following
set
commands. Enter each command on a single line, and enter the appropriate passwords when prompted:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor set --login-path=client
--host=localhost --user=localuser --password
Enter password: enter password "localpass" here
shell> mysql_config_editor set --login-path=remote
--host=remote.example.com --user=remoteuser --password
Enter password: enter password "remotepass" here
mysql_config_editor
uses the
client
login path by default, so the
--login-path=client
option can be omitted from the first command without changing its effect.
To see what
mysql_config_editor
writes to the
.mylogin.cnf
file, use the
print
command:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor print --all
[client]
user = localuser
password = *****
host = localhost
[remote]
user = remoteuser
password = *****
host = remote.example.com
The
print
command displays each login path as a set of lines beginning with a group header indicating the login path name in square brackets, followed by the option values for the login path. Password values are masked and do not appear as cleartext.
If you do not specify
--all
to display all login paths or
--login-path=name
to display a named login path, the
print
command displays the
client
login path by default, if there is one.
As shown by the preceding example, the login path file can contain multiple login paths. In this way,
mysql_config_editor
makes it easy to set up multiple
lqpersonalitiesrq
for connecting to different MySQL servers, or for connecting to a given server using different accounts. Any of these can be selected by name later using the
--login-path
option when you invoke a client program. For example, to connect to the remote server, use this command:
-
shell> mysql --login-path=remote
Here,
mysql
reads the
[client]
and
[mysql]
option groups from other option files, and the
[client],
[mysql], and
[remote]
groups from the login path file.
To connect to the local server, use this command:
-
shell> mysql --login-path=client
Because
mysql
reads the
client
and
mysql
login paths by default, the
--login-path
option does not add anything in this case. That command is equivalent to this one:
-
shell> mysql
Options read from the login path file take precedence over options read from other option files. Options read from login path groups appearing later in the login path file take precedence over options read from groups appearing earlier in the file.
mysql_config_editor
adds login paths to the login path file in the order you create them, so you should create more general login paths first and more specific paths later. If you need to move a login path within the file, you can remove it, then recreate it to add it to the end.
When you use the
set
command with
mysql_config_editor
to create a login path, you need not specify all possible option values (host name, user name, password, port, socket). Only those values given are written to the path. Any missing values required later can be specified when you invoke a client path to connect to the MySQL server, either in other option files or on the command line. Any options specified on the command line override those specified in the login path file or other option files. For example, if the credentials in the
remote
login path also apply for the host
remote2.example.com, connect to the server on that host like this:
-
shell> mysql --login-path=remote --host=remote2.example.com
mysql_config_editor General Options.PP
mysql_config_editor
supports the following general options, which may be used preceding any command named on the command line. For descriptions of command-specific options, see
mysql_config_editor Commands and Command-Specific Options.
-
*
--help,
-?
Display a general help message and exit.
To see a command-specific help message, invoke
mysql_config_editor
as follows, where
command
is a command other than
help:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor command --help
-
*
--debug[=debug_options],
-# debug_options
Write a debugging log. A typical
debug_options
string is
d:t:o,file_name. The default is
d:t:o,/tmp/mysql_config_editor.trace.
-
*
--verbose,
-v
Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does. This option may be helpful in diagnosing problems if an operation does not have the effect you expect.
-
*
--version,
-V
Display version information and exit.
mysql_config_editor Commands and Command-Specific Options.PP
This section describes the permitted
mysql_config_editor
commands, and, for each one, the command-specific options permitted following the command name on the command line.
In addition,
mysql_config_editor
supports general options that can be used preceding any command. For descriptions of these options, see
mysql_config_editor General Options.
mysql_config_editor
supports these commands:
-
*
help
Display a general help message and exit. This command takes no following options.
To see a command-specific help message, invoke
mysql_config_editor
as follows, where
command
is a command other than
help:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor command --help
-
*
print [options]
Print the contents of the login path file in unencrypted form, with the exception that passwords are displayed as
*****.
The default login path name is
client
if no login path is named. If both
--all
and
--login-path
are given,
--all
takes precedence.
The
print
command permits these options following the command name:
-
*
--help,
-?
Display a help message for the
print
command and exit.
To see a general help message, use
mysql_config_editor --help.
-
*
--all
Print the contents of all login paths in the login path file.
-
*
--login-path=name,
-G name
Print the contents of the named login path.
-
*
remove [options]
Remove a login path from the login path file, or modify a login path by removing options from it.
This command removes from the login path only such options as are specified with the
--host,
--password,
--port,
--socket, and
--user
options. If none of those options are given,
remove
removes the entire login path. For example, this command removes only the
user
option from the
mypath
login path rather than the entire
mypath
login path:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor remove --login-path=mypath --user
This command removes the entire
mypath
login path:
-
shell> mysql_config_editor remove --login-path=mypath
The
remove
command permits these options following the command name:
-
*
--help,
-?
Display a help message for the
remove
command and exit.
To see a general help message, use
mysql_config_editor --help.
-
*
--host,
-h
Remove the host name from the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.9.
-
*
--login-path=name,
-G name
The login path to remove or modify. The default login path name is
client
if this option is not given.
-
*
--password,
-p
Remove the password from the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.9.
-
*
--port,
-P
Remove the TCP/IP port number from the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.11.
-
*
--socket,
-S
Remove the Unix socket file name from the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.11.
-
*
--user,
-u
Remove the user name from the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.9.
-
*
--warn,
-w
Warn and prompt the user for confirmation if the command attempts to remove the default login path (client) and
--login-path=client
was not specified. This option is enabled by default; use
--skip-warn
to disable it.
-
*
reset [options]
Empty the contents of the login path file.
The
reset
command permits these options following the command name:
-
*
--help,
-?
Display a help message for the
reset
command and exit.
To see a general help message, use
mysql_config_editor --help.
-
*
set [options]
Write a login path to the login path file.
This command writes to the login path only such options as are specified with the
--host,
--password,
--port,
--socket, and
--user
options. If none of those options are given,
mysql_config_editor
writes the login path as an empty group.
The
set
command permits these options following the command name:
-
*
--help,
-?
Display a help message for the
set
command and exit.
To see a general help message, use
mysql_config_editor --help.
-
*
--host=host_name,
-h host_name
The host name to write to the login path.
-
*
--login-path=name,
-G name
The login path to create. The default login path name is
client
if this option is not given.
-
*
--password,
-p
Prompt for a password to write to the login path. After
mysql_config_editor
displays the prompt, type the password and press Enter. To prevent other users from seeing the password,
mysql_config_editor
does not echo it.
To specify an empty password, press Enter at the password prompt. The resulting login path written to the login path file will include a line like this:
-
password =
-
*
--port=port_num,
-P port_num
The TCP/IP port number to write to the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.11.
-
*
--socket=file_name,
-S file_name
The Unix socket file name to write to the login path. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.11.
-
*
--user=user_name,
-u user_name
The user name to write to the login path.
-
*
--warn,
-w
Warn and prompt the user for confirmation if the command attempts to overwrite an existing login path. This option is enabled by default; use
--skip-warn
to disable it.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1997, 2017, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA or see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
SEE ALSO
For more information, please refer to the MySQL Reference Manual,
which may already be installed locally and which is also available
online at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.
AUTHOR
Oracle Corporation (http://dev.mysql.com/).
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- AUTHOR
-
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