Compiler options to find MySQL include files. 

• --libs 

Libraries and options required to link with the MySQL client library. 

• --libs_r 

Libraries and options required to link with the thread-safe MySQL client library. In MySQL 8.0, all client libraries are thread-safe, so this option need not be used. The --libs  option can be used in all cases. 

• --plugindir 

The default plugin directory path name, defined when configuring MySQL. 

• --port 

The default TCP/IP port number, defined when configuring MySQL. 

• --socket 

The default Unix socket file, defined when configuring MySQL. 

• --variable= var_name 

Display the value of the named configuration variable. Permitted var_name  values are pkgincludedir (the header file directory), pkglibdir  (the library directory), and plugindir  (the plugin directory). 

• --version 

Version number for the MySQL distribution. 

If you invoke mysql_config  with no options, it displays a list of all options that it supports, and their values: 

shell> mysql_config Usage: /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config [options] Options: --cflags [-I/usr/local/mysql/include/mysql -mcpu=pentiumpro] --cxxflags [-I/usr/local/mysql/include/mysql -mcpu=pentiumpro] --include [-I/usr/local/mysql/include/mysql] --libs [-L/usr/local/mysql/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient -lpthread -lm -lrt -lssl -lcrypto -ldl] --libs_r [-L/usr/local/mysql/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient_r -lpthread -lm -lrt -lssl -lcrypto -ldl] --plugindir [/usr/local/mysql/lib/plugin] --socket [/tmp/mysql.sock] --port [3306] --version [5.8.0-m17] --variable=VAR VAR is one of: pkgincludedir [/usr/local/mysql/include] pkglibdir [/usr/local/mysql/lib] plugindir [/usr/local/mysql/lib/plugin] 

You can use mysql_config  within a command line using backticks to include the output that it produces for particular options. For example, to compile and link a MySQL client program, use mysql_config  as follows: 

gcc -c ‘mysql_config --cflags‘ progname.c gcc -o progname progname.o ‘mysql_config --libs‘ 

