2.10.5 Starting and Stopping MySQL Automatically

This section discusses methods for starting and stopping the MySQL server.

Generally, you start the mysqld server in one of these ways:

systemd, the mysqld_safe and mysql.server scripts, Solaris SMF, and the macOS Startup Item (or MySQL Preference Pane) can be used to start the server manually, or automatically at system startup time. systemd, mysql.server, and the Startup Item also can be used to stop the server.

The following table shows which option groups the server and startup scripts read from option files.

Table 2.14 MySQL Startup Scripts and Supported Server Option Groups

Script Option Groups
mysqld [mysqld], [server], [mysqld-major_version]
mysqld_safe [mysqld], [server], [mysqld_safe]
mysql.server [mysqld], [mysql.server], [server]

[mysqld-major_version] means that groups with names like [mysqld-5.6] and [mysqld-5.7] are read by servers having versions 5.6.x, 5.7.x, and so forth. This feature can be used to specify options that can be read only by servers within a given release series.

For backward compatibility, mysql.server also reads the [mysql_server] group and mysqld_safe also reads the [safe_mysqld] group. To be current, you should update your option files to use the [mysql.server] and [mysqld_safe] groups instead.

For more information on MySQL configuration files and their structure and contents, see Section 4.2.2.2, “Using Option Files”.