mysqld_multi  searches for option files as follows: 

•With --no-defaults , no option files are read. 

•With --defaults-file= file_name , only the named file is read. 

•Otherwise, option files in the standard list of locations are read, including any file named by the -- defaults-extra-file= file_name  option, if one is given. (If the option is given multiple times, the last value is used.) 

For additional information about these and other option-file options, see Section 4.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling” . 

Option files read are searched for [mysqld_multi]  and [mysqld N ]  option groups. The [mysqld_multi]  group can be used for options to mysqld_multi  itself. [mysqld N ]  groups can be used for options passed to specific mysqld  instances. 

The [mysqld]  or [mysqld_safe]  groups can be used for common options read by all instances of mysqld  or mysqld_safe . You can specify a --defaults-file= file_name  option to use a different configuration file for that instance, in which case the [mysqld]  or [mysqld_safe]  groups from that file are used for that instance. 

mysqld_multi  supports the following options. 

• --help 

Display a help message and exit. 

• --example 

Display a sample option file. 

• --log= file_name 

Specify the name of the log file. If the file exists, log output is appended to it. 

• --mysqladmin= prog_name 

The mysqladmin  binary to be used to stop servers. 

• --mysqld= prog_name 

The mysqld  binary to be used. Note that you can specify mysqld_safe  as the value for this option also. If you use mysqld_safe  to start the server, you can include the mysqld  or ledir  options in the corresponding [mysqld N ]  option group. These options indicate the name of the server that mysqld_safe  should start and the path name of the directory where the server is located. (See the descriptions for these options in Section 4.3.2, “mysqld_safe — MySQL Server Startup Script” .) Example: 

[mysqld38] mysqld = mysqld-debug ledir = /opt/local/mysql/libexec 

• --no-log 

Print log information to stdout  rather than to the log file. By default, output goes to the log file. 

• --password= password 

