mysql_install_db initializes the MySQL data directory and creates the system tables that it contains, if they do not exist. mysql_install_db is a shell script and is available only on Unix platforms. (As of MySQL 5.6, mysql_install_db is a Perl script and can be used on any system with Perl installed.)
To invoke mysql_install_db, use the following syntax:
shell> mysql_install_db [options]
Because the MySQL server, mysqld, needs to
access the data directory when it runs later, you should either
run mysql_install_db from the same system
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:
shell>scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql \--basedir=/opt/mysql/mysql \--datadir=/opt/mysql/mysql/data
mysql_install_db needs to invoke
mysqld with the
--bootstrap and
--skip-grant-tables options.
If you have set a custom TMPDIR environment
variable when performing the installation, and the specified
directory is not accessible,
mysql_install_db may fail. If so, unset
TMPDIR or set TMPDIR to
point to the system temporary directory (usually
/tmp).
mysql_install_db supports the following
options, which can be specified on the command line or in the
[mysql_install_db] group of an option file.
(Options that are common to mysqld can also
be specified in the [mysqld] group.) Other
options are passed to mysqld. For information
about option files, see Section 4.2.3.3, “Using Option Files”.
mysql_install_db also supports the options
for processing option files described at
Section 4.2.3.4, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.
The path to the MySQL installation directory.
The path to the MySQL data directory.
Cause mysql_install_db to run even if DNS does not work. Grant table entries that normally use host names will use IP addresses.
For internal use. This option is used during the MySQL installation process for install operations performed using RPM packages.
Use IP addresses rather than host names when creating grant table entries. This option can be useful if your DNS does not work.
For internal use. This option specifies the directory under which mysql_install_db looks for support files such as the error message file and the file for populating the help tables.
The system (login) user name to use for running
mysqld. Files and directories created by
mysqld will be owned by this user. You
must be root to use this option. By
default, mysqld runs using your current
login name and files and directories that it creates will be
owned by you.
Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does.
For internal use. This option is used for creating Windows distributions.