MySQL Bugs: #33685: Unable to Start Mysql: Results in "line xxx: test: too many arguments"

Bug #33685	Unable to Start Mysql: Results in "line xxx: test: too many arguments"
Submitted:	4 Jan 2008 7:57	Modified:	18 Jun 2009 15:07
Reporter:	Sidney Lee	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server: Command-line Clients	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	5.0.45, 5.1.22	OS:	Any
Assigned to:	Jim Winstead	CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	too many arguments, unable to start

Description:
When starting Mysql from the command line using ./bin/mysqld_safe, the message 

./bin/mysqld_safe: line 390: test: too many arguments 
080104 13:22:37 mysqld restarted

shows up.  The line number (390) changed to 485 and 543 when I tried installing version 5.1  Mysqld keeps on restarting and I am unable to connect to Mysql with a error 2002 message.  

How to repeat:
I actually am not sure how this bug can be viewed again.

What exact versions, 5.0.x and 5.1.x, do you use?

I'm using the mysql-5.0.45-osx10.4-i686.dmg.  I also tried installing the mysql-5.1.22-rc-osx10.4-i686.tar.gz file without better luck.  I had MySQL working yesterday and after rebooting my computer today I've been unable to use MySQL, even after trying to remove the files (removing everything in Mac is quite difficult) and installing again.

If anyone has the time or ability to help out that'd be fantastic...I'm working on a website that's almost done and am planning on launching in a couple of days!

Thanks again.

Screenshot with error msg

Attachment: Picture 4.png (image/png, text), 21.51 KiB.

What does your hostname as returned by the /bin/hostname program look like?

thanks for the reply.  it's just showing the name i set using 

sudo scutil --set HostName 

i.e. Sidney Lee's Computer

patched mysqld_safe

Attachment: mysqld_safe (application/octet-stream, text), 12.84 KiB.

Hi Sidney, 

please try the patched mysqld_safe i just uploaded to this bug,
it should solve the problem for 5.0.45

Hi, 

Thanks for the help.  I tried moving the patch to the base directory i.e. /usr/local/mysql_5.0.45-osx10.4-i686 and running

patch -p0 < mysqld_safe  

without any successt.  If you could provide a little more detail in how I should patch mysql I'd be very grateful.  As you can see, I'm quite new to this.

Thanks again.

Sorry for the confusion, the attached file is a replacement for the original 5.0.45, not just a patch file, so you should just copy it over the existing mysqld_safe

I replaced mysqld_safe in /bin with the patch you sent, but doing so doesn't appear to have helped.
When I try running mysqld_safe after replacing the file, I'm getting a "cannot find mysqld_safe" error message.

Looks like you didn't set the "executable" flag on it?

  chmod a+x /path/to/mysqld_safe should help

No feedback was provided for this bug for over a month, so it is
being suspended automatically. If you are able to provide the
information that was originally requested, please do so and change
the status of the bug back to "Open".

Hello. I had the same problem. My hostname was three words, changing it to one word (sudo hostname xxxx) prior to installing MySQL solved the problem. I'm guessing spaces in the hostname is the problem.

Hello Guido, 

can you confirm that the replacement mysqld_safe in the "Files" section of this bug fixes the problem for you?

No feedback was provided for this bug for over a month, so it is
being suspended automatically. If you are able to provide the
information that was originally requested, please do so and change
the status of the bug back to "Open".

patch against 5.0.51b mysqld_safe, adding extra quotes to lots of places to cope with whitespace in hostnames:

--- scripts/mysqld_safe	2010-05-23 14:23:30.000000000 +0200
+++ /home/hartmut/new/mysqld_safe	2008-05-23 14:00:34.000000000 +0200
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@
     USER_OPTION="--user=$user"
   fi
   # If we are root, change the err log to the right user.
-  touch $err_log; chown $user $err_log
+  touch "$err_log"; chown $user "$err_log"
   if test -n "$open_files"
   then
     ulimit -n $open_files
@@ -334,23 +334,23 @@
 #
 # If there exists an old pid file, check if the daemon is already running
 # Note: The switches to 'ps' may depend on your operating system
-if test -f $pid_file
+if test -f "$pid_file"
 then
-  PID=`cat $pid_file`
+  PID=`cat "$pid_file"`
   if /bin/kill -0 $PID > /dev/null 2> /dev/null
   then
     if /bin/ps p $PID | grep -v grep | grep $MYSQLD > /dev/null
     then    # The pid contains a mysqld process
       echo "A mysqld process already exists"
-      echo "A mysqld process already exists at " `date` >> $err_log
+      echo "A mysqld process already exists at " `date` >> "$err_log"
       exit 1
     fi
   fi
-  rm -f $pid_file
-  if test -f $pid_file
+  rm -f "$pid_file"
+  if test -f "$pid_file"
   then
     echo "Fatal error: Can't remove the pid file: $pid_file"
-    echo "Fatal error: Can't remove the pid file: $pid_file at " `date` >> $err_log
+    echo "Fatal error: Can't remove the pid file: $pid_file at " `date` >> "$err_log"
     echo "Please remove it manually and start $0 again"
     echo "mysqld daemon not started"
     exit 1
@@ -377,23 +377,23 @@
 #  ulimit -n 256 > /dev/null 2>&1		# Fix for BSD and FreeBSD systems
 #fi
 
-echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S  mysqld started'`" >> $err_log
+echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S  mysqld started'`" >> "$err_log"
 while true
 do
-  rm -f $safe_mysql_unix_port $pid_file	# Some extra safety
+  rm -f $safe_mysql_unix_port "$pid_file"	# Some extra safety
   if test -z "$args"
   then
-    $NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-external-locking >> $err_log 2>&1
+    $NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file="$pid_file"  >> "$err_log" 2>&1
   else
-    eval "$NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-external-locking $args >> $err_log 2>&1"
+    eval "$NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file="$pid_file"  $args >> "$err_log" 2>&1"
   fi
-  if test ! -f $pid_file		# This is removed if normal shutdown
+  if test ! -f "$pid_file"		# This is removed if normal shutdown
   then
     echo "STOPPING server from pid file $pid_file"
     break
   fi
 
-  if true && test $KILL_MYSQLD -eq 1
+  if false && test $KILL_MYSQLD -eq 1
   then
     # Test if one process was hanging.
     # This is only a fix for Linux (running as base 3 mysqld processes)
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@
     # kill -9 is used or the process won't react on the kill.
     numofproces=`ps xaww | grep -v "grep" | grep "$ledir/$MYSQLD\>" | grep -c "pid-file=$pid_file"`
 
-    echo -e "\nNumber of processes running now: $numofproces" | tee -a $err_log
+    echo -e "\nNumber of processes running now: $numofproces" | tee -a "$err_log"
     I=1
     while test "$I" -le "$numofproces"
     do 
@@ -415,16 +415,16 @@
       #    echo "TEST $I - $T **"
       if kill -9 $T
       then
-        echo "$MYSQLD process hanging, pid $T - killed" | tee -a $err_log
+        echo "$MYSQLD process hanging, pid $T - killed" | tee -a "$err_log"
       else 
         break
       fi
       I=`expr $I + 1`
     done
   fi
-  echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S'`  mysqld restarted" | tee -a $err_log
+  echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S'`  mysqld restarted" | tee -a "$err_log"
 done
 
-echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S'`  mysqld ended" | tee -a $err_log
-echo "" | tee -a $err_log
+echo "`date +'%y%m%d %H:%M:%S'`  mysqld ended" | tee -a "$err_log"
+echo "" | tee -a "$err_log"

Actually affecting all unixoid platforms although Macs are most likely to be hitting this due to Apples default host naming scheme, on other platforms you'll rarely see hostnames with whitespace in them ...

A patch for this bug has been committed. After review, it may
be pushed to the relevant source trees for release in the next
version. You can access the patch from:

  http://lists.mysql.com/commits/73625

2890 Jim Winstead	2009-05-07
      mysqld_safe could generate filenames with spaces and then didn't properly
      quote them in later use. (Bug #33685, based on a patch by Hartmut Holzgraefe)
      modified:
        scripts/mysqld_safe.sh

Patch queued to 5.1-bugteam, will be merged up from there.

Pushed into 5.1.36 (revid:joro@sun.com-20090528073639-yohsb4q1jzg7ycws) (version source revid:jimw@mysql.com-20090512212719-mjc8fz4q3ewvr4yd) (merge vers: 5.1.35) (pib:6)

Noted in 5.1.36 changelog.

mysqld_safe mishandled certain parameters if they contained spaces.

Setting report to NDI pending push into 6.0.x.

Pushed into 5.4.4-alpha (revid:alik@sun.com-20090616183122-chjzbaa30qopdra9) (version source revid:jimw@mysql.com-20090514020104-7u5cqf5cyywa8aks) (merge vers: 6.0.12-alpha) (pib:11)

Noted in 5.4.4 changelog.

Noted in 5.4.2 changelog because next 5.4 version will be 5.4.2 and not 5.4.4.

Ignore previous comment about 5.4.2.

Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8) (pib:11)

Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-6.3.27 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826105955-bkj027t47gfbamnc) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826105955-bkj027t47gfbamnc) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-6.3.27) (pib:11)

Pushed into 5.1.37-ndb-6.2.19 (revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090825194404-37rtosk049t9koc4) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090825194404-37rtosk049t9koc4) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-6.2.19) (pib:11)

Pushed into 5.1.35-ndb-7.1.0 (revid:magnus.blaudd@sun.com-20090827163030-6o3kk6r2oua159hr) (version source revid:jonas@mysql.com-20090826132541-yablppc59e3yb54l) (merge vers: 5.1.37-ndb-7.0.8) (pib:11)

The 5.4 fix has been pushed to 5.4.2.

The 5.4 fix has been pushed to 5.4.2.