title: How to increase the max_connections value for MySQL on Windows Server?
body: <p>I have an issue with</p>
  
  <pre><code>SQLSTATE[08004] [1040] Too many connections
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>on a Windows Server 2008 r2. Now I'm trying to increase the <code>max_connections</code> (the default value is <code>151</code>). In the the MySQL <code>5.6</code> root folder <code>D:\...\MySQL5.6</code> I found a file <code>my-default.ini</code> and added</p>
  
  <p>max_connections        = 200</p>
  
  <p>under <code>[mysqld]</code>. Then I restarted the service:</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/cBRNq.png" alt="Service-Manager-MySQL"></p>
  
  <p>But nothing has changed:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "max_connections";
  +-----------------+-------+
  ¦ Variable_name   ¦ Value ¦
  +-----------------+-------+
  ¦ max_connections ¦ 151   ¦
  +-----------------+-------+
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I renamed the <code>my-default.ini</code> to <code>my.ini</code> and restarted the MySQL server again. No effect.</p>
  
  <p><strong>How to set the MySQL <code>max_connections</code> permanently on Windows Server?</strong></p>