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(mysql.info)Connecting

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Connecting to the MySQL Server
------------------------------

MySQL client programs generally require that you specify connection
parameters when you want to access a MySQL server: the host you want to
connect to, your user name, and your password.  For example, the
`mysql' client can be started like this (optional arguments are enclosed
between `[' and `]'):

     shell> mysql [-h host_name] [-u user_name] [-pyour_pass]

Alternate forms of the `-h', `-u', and `-p' options are
`--host=host_name', `--user=user_name', and `--password=your_pass'.
Note that there is _no space_ between `-p' or `--password=' and the
password following it.

*NOTE:* Specifying a password on the command line is not secure!  Any
user on your system may then find out your password by typing a command
like: `ps auxww'.  Note: Option files.

`mysql' uses default values for connection parameters that are missing
from the command line:

   * The default hostname is `localhost'.

   * The default user name is your Unix login name.

   * No password is supplied if `-p' is missing.

Thus, for a Unix user `joe', the following commands are equivalent:

     shell> mysql -h localhost -u joe
     shell> mysql -h localhost
     shell> mysql -u joe
     shell> mysql

Other MySQL clients behave similarly.

On Unix systems, you can specify different default values to be used
when you make a connection, so that you need not enter them on the
command line each time you invoke a client program.  This can be done
in a couple of ways:

   * You can specify connection parameters in the `[client]' section of
     the `.my.cnf' configuration file in your home directory.  The
     relevant section of the file might look like this:

          [client]
          host=host_name
          user=user_name
          password=your_pass

     Note: Option files.

   * You can specify connection parameters using environment variables.
     The host can be specified for `mysql' using `MYSQL_HOST'.  The
     MySQL user name can be specified using `USER' (this is for Windows
     only).  The password can be specified using `MYSQL_PWD' (but this
     is insecure; see the next section).  Note: Environment variables.