Find MySQL Configuration File Location on Linux

This guide intends to teach you to Find MySQL Configuration File Location (my.cnf) on Linux.

The my.cnf file is the main configuration file available within MySQL and all of its flavors. The file contains various parameters that can be configured according to requirements. These parameters will then be loaded onto MySQL as the database management system starts up. There are multiple locations where my.cnf file could be located (the locations differ depending on what flavor of Linux is used).

Steps To Find MySQL Configuration File Location (my.cnf) on Linux

To complete this guide, you must log in to your Linux system such as Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, etc, and follow the steps below.

In this guide, you will learn to find your my.cnf file location by using the Linux commands.

The my.cnf file is often located in one of the following locations. It depends on your OS and the kind of installation.

# /etc/my.cnf
# /etc/mysql/my.cnf
# $MYSQL_HOME/my.cnf
# [datadir]/my.cnf
# ~/.my.cnf

Note: Your Linux system should only include one of these MySQL location files. However, if there are many files, MySQL will load each one individually, and the values from one file will be replaced by those from the next. 

Use grep Command to Find my.cnf File Location on Linux

The grep command searches a file for a particular pattern of characters and displays all lines that contain that pattern.

To locate your MySQL configuration file, you can use the following command in your Linux terminal:

mysql --help | grep /my.cnf

Example Output
/etc/my.cnf  /etc/mysql/my.cnf  ~/.my.cnf

Find my.cnf location in multiple forms on Linux

At this point, you can use the following commands to list the location of my.cnf file in multiple forms and locations.

# mysqladmin --help
OR
# mysqld --help --verbose

Example Output
...
Default options are read from the following files in the given order:
/etc/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf ~/.my.cnf
...

Use find Command to locate my.cnf File Location

The find command helps us to find a particular file within a directory. It is used to find the list of files for various conditions like permission, user ownership, modification, date/time, size, and more.

You can use the following find command to locate your MySQL configuration file on your Linux:

find / -name my.cnf

Example Output
/var/lib/dpkg/alternatives/my.cnf
/etc/alternatives/my.cnf
/etc/mysql/my.cnf

That’s it, you are done.

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned to Find MySQL Configuration File Location (my.cnf) on Linux by using the Linux commands.

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