Description:
mysqld --verbose --help creates a binary log .index file in the current directory if binlogging is enabled.
As far as I can tell, this does not happen when mysqld is invoked from an account that has access to the data directory. If mysqld is invoked from another account that does not have access to the data directory, The binary log .index file is created.
How to repeat:
Create /tmp/my.cnf with these contents:
[mysqld]
log-bin=binlog
From an account that does not have access to the data directory, invoke this command:
mysqld --defaults-file=/tmp/my.cnf --verbose --help
Aside from the --help message, the output I see is as follows (I am using 5.1.38 installed in /var/mysql/50138):
090717 12:40:01 [Warning] Can't create test file /private/var/mysql/50138/data/dhcp-101.lower-test
090717 12:40:01 [Warning] Can't create test file /private/var/mysql/50138/data/dhcp-101.lower-test
/var/mysql/50138/libexec/mysqld: Can't change dir to '/private/var/mysql/50138/data/' (Errcode: 13)
090717 12:40:01 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled.
/var/mysql/50138/libexec/mysqld: Table 'mysql.plugin' doesn't exist
090717 12:40:01 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it.
090717 12:40:01 [Warning] Forcing shutdown of 1 plugins
And an empty binlog.index file is created in the current directory.
