--help, -?

Display a help message and exit.

--character-sets-dir=path

The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 10.5, “Character Set Configuration”.

--columns=column_list, -c column_list

This option takes a comma-separated list of column names as its value. The order of the column names indicates how to match data file columns with table columns.

--compress, -C

Compress all information sent between the client and the server if both support compression.

--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'.

--default-character-set=charset_name

Use charset_name as the default character set. See Section 10.5, “Character Set Configuration”.

--delete, -D

Empty the table before importing the text file.

--fields-terminated-by=..., --fields-enclosed-by=..., --fields-optionally-enclosed-by=..., --fields-escaped-by=...

These options have the same meaning as the corresponding clauses for LOAD DATA INFILE. See Section 13.2.6, “LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax”.

--force, -f

Ignore errors. For example, if a table for a text file does not exist, continue processing any remaining files. Without --force, mysqlimport exits if a table does not exist.

--host=host_name, -h host_name

Import data to the MySQL server on the given host. The default host is localhost.

--ignore, -i

See the description for the --replace option.

--ignore-lines=N

Ignore the first N lines of the data file.

--lines-terminated-by=...

This option has the same meaning as the corresponding clause for LOAD DATA INFILE. For example, to import Windows files that have lines terminated with carriage return/linefeed pairs, use --lines-terminated-by="\r\n". (You might have to double the backslashes, depending on the escaping conventions of your command interpreter.) See Section 13.2.6, “LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax”.

--local, -L

Read input files locally from the client host.

--lock-tables, -l

Lock all tables for writing before processing any text files. This ensures that all tables are synchronized on the server.

--low-priority

Use LOW_PRIORITY when loading the table. This affects only storage engines that use only table-level locking (such as MyISAM, MEMORY, and MERGE).

--password[=password], -p[password]

The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following the --password or -p option on the command line, mysqlimport prompts for one.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. See Section 6.1.2.1, “End-User Guidelines for Password Security”. You can use an option file to avoid giving the password on the command line.

--pipe, -W

On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.

--port=port_num, -P port_num

The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.

--protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a protocol to be used other than the one you want. For details on the permissible values, see Section 4.2.2, “Connecting to the MySQL Server”.

--replace, -r

The --replace and --ignore options control handling of input rows that duplicate existing rows on unique key values. If you specify --replace, new rows replace existing rows that have the same unique key value. If you specify --ignore, input rows that duplicate an existing row on a unique key value are skipped. If you do not specify either option, an error occurs when a duplicate key value is found, and the rest of the text file is ignored.

--silent, -s

Silent mode. Produce output only when errors occur.

--socket=path, -S path

For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.

--ssl*

Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the server using SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. See Section 6.3.6.4, “SSL Command Options”.

--user=user_name, -u user_name

The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.

--verbose, -v

Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does.

--version, -V

Display version information and exit.

Some options, such as --opt, automatically enable --lock-tables. If you want to override this, use --skip-lock-tables at the end of the option list.