MySQL Bugs: #68797: my.ini is not written to C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6

Bug #68797	my.ini is not written to C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6
Submitted:	27 Mar 2013 14:12	Modified:	13 Jan 2015 8:57
Reporter:	Superb Subs	Email Updates:
Status:	Unsupported	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server: Installing	Severity:	S3 (Non-critical)
Version:	5.6.11	OS:	Windows (8 x64)
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	configuration, installer, my.ini

Description:
When using the new MySQL Installer for Windows, it writes the configuration to:
C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6

But the MySQL service is trying to load it (by default) from:
C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6

How to repeat:
Install the MySQL server using the official installer. Set your configuration via the installer.

Suggested fix:
Either make the service load my.ini from ProgramData (proper way of fixing), or save the config in Program Files.

When running mysql.exe --help, it says:
Default options are read from the following files in the given order:
C:\Windows\my.ini C:\Windows\my.cnf C:\my.ini C:\my.cnf c:\Program Files\MySQL\M
ySQL Server 5.6\my.ini c:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.cnf

Workaround (until issue is resolved): manually copy my.ini from ProgramData to Program Files.

Install Paths

Attachment: install_paths.png (image/png, text), 22.13 KiB.

Service running

Attachment: service_install.png (image/png, text), 38.46 KiB.

Thank you for the bug report. I have tested with 5.6.11 because the check process is done with latest release and I couldn't repeat. I attached 2 screenshot: 1- showing the Install and Data paths, 2- The service is running and shows the service image path with the my.ini file in the ProgramData directory. My Windows 8 is a fresh OS install. Please chech with new 5.6.11 installer. Thanks.

Alright... Using the newest MySQL installer (5.6.11), the following command line parameter is automatically added to the service and the command line client start menu shortcut:
--defaults-file=C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.ini

But if I try to manually use any of the mysql binary tools (mysqlcheck.exe, mysqldump.exe, ...), they still try to load the my.ini from:

"Default options are read from the following files in the given order:
C:\Windows\my.ini C:\Windows\my.cnf C:\my.ini C:\my.cnf c:\Program Files\MySQL\M
ySQL Server 5.6\my.ini c:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.cnf"

So Maybe it's time to add ProgramData\MySQL to the list? :) (or even give it precedence over all others)

I meant "C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.ini", sorry... :o

Thank you for the feedback.

E:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\bin>mysqldump --help | more
mysqldump  Ver 10.13 Distrib 5.6.11, for Win64 (x86_64)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Dumping structure and contents of MySQL databases and tables.
Usage: mysqldump [OPTIONS] database [tables]
OR     mysqldump [OPTIONS] --databases [OPTIONS] DB1 [DB2 DB3...]
OR     mysqldump [OPTIONS] --all-databases [OPTIONS]

Default options are read from the following files in the given order:
E:\WINDOWS\my.ini E:\WINDOWS\my.cnf C:\my.ini C:\my.cnf E:\Program Files\MySQL\M
ySQL Server 5.6\my.ini E:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\my.cnf

Well, so I see that the my.ini in %ProgramData% (where the MySQL Installer writes the config to) is not on your list as well. That's the real issue, I guess.

http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=72070 marked as duplicate of this one.

Several versions and 4 years later this issue still hasn't been fixed?

Service is still forced to read from ProgramData, everything else reads from non-existing file in "Program Files"

I have he same problem. I couldn't figure out why my settings weren't taking effect. It was because the service is looking in C:\ProgramData while Workbench was looking in C:\Program Files. I tried pointing Workbench to C:\ProgramData, but, it's giving me a permissions error.

What is Status Unsupported. I agree with Zax. Why wasn't this fixed a long time ago? Ever since Oracle came out with the combined installer, the installation experience on Windows has been a total disaster. Definitely much worse than it used to be and apparently Oracle doesn't care.

The easiest workaround may be to create a symbolic link between the files. That's the solution I'm going to go with unless I find a problem with it.

cmd /c mklink "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.7\my.ini" "C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.7\my.ini"

Well, here we are in Jan 2021 and after selecting the server only option while  installing MySql version 8 and no my.ini is in the "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0" nor in "C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL\MySQL Installer for Windows" nor in ProgramData. 

I suppose that MySql just is not a priority for Oracle.

James

I have decided to simply uninstall MySql and just use Sql Server developer edition. It installs easily and most importantly, IT WORKS immediately after installation.

James