MySQL Bugs: #38371: MySQL does not start after installation due to unknown parameter in my.ini file

Bug #38371	MySQL does not start after installation due to unknown parameter in my.ini file
Submitted:	25 Jul 2008 13:54	Modified:	7 Aug 2008 22:28
Reporter:	Vladislav Vaintroub
Status:	Closed
Category:	Server: Installing	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	6.0.6	OS:	Microsoft Windows
Assigned to:	Iggy Galarza	Target Version:	6.0-beta
Triage:	D1 (Critical)

Description:
After the installlation of server package on Windows, server does not start.
Error log complains about unknown parameter myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size.

080725 12:18:48 [ERROR] C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 6.0\bin\mysqld: unknown
variable 'myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size=100G'

This can be 
Modifying this .ini on Vista+  is not trivial as it has been put under Program Files
folder and thus requires that editor runs elevated

How to repeat:
install 6.0.6 with MSI installer

See bug#34324. Apparently it was deprecated early in 5.0, but the other bug doesn't
actually have a fix, just a workaround.

Thank you for the bug report. Work-around: comment on my.ini the mentioned variable.

Ignacio Galarza wrote:

 The parameter 'myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size' is defined in the generic Windows
template (mysql-sever-setup/resources/my-template.ini) which has not changed since April
6, 2006.  According to the comments/links in the bug report the parameter has been
deprecated since version 5.0.6.  IMHO, this makes the fix simple, just remove the
parameter from the template.  This change will require deleting 6 lines from each of two
files (my-classic-template.ini also). The impact is fairly widespread since all versions
of MySQL share this template. I believe leaving in symptom that causes a simple install
to error for a Windows user has the potential to generate enough negative publicity that
the potential impact is worth the risk and is a showstopper.  I can have a fix pushed in
10-20 minutes as there is no functionality/code change needed for my suggestion.

The 6.0.6 Windows packages include this fix.

Noted in 6.0.6 changelog.

The Windows my-template.ini template file contained a reference to
the myisam_max_extra_sort_file_size system variable, which no longer
exists, causing the installed server to fail upon startup.