MySQL Bugs: #81332: Incorrect documentation about systemd, mysqld

Bug #81332	Incorrect documentation about systemd, mysqld_safe, and RPM packages
Submitted:	6 May 2016 2:48	Modified:	2 Nov 2017 18:10
Reporter:	monty solomon	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Server: Documentation	Severity:	S3 (Non-critical)
Version:	5.7	OS:	CentOS
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any

Description:
The documentation about systemd, mysqld_safe, and RPM packages does not apply to RHEL/CentOS 6. As written, the documentation claims that it applies to all Linux systems that use RPM packages.

How to repeat:
Install on CentOS 6 and observe that mysqld_safe is still used.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/upgrading-from-previous-series.html

Incompatible change: As of MySQL 5.7.6, for Linux systems on which MySQL is installed using RPM packages, server startup and shutdown now is managed using systemd rather than mysqld_safe, and mysqld_safe is no longer installed. This may require some adjustment to the manner in which you specify server options. For details, see Section 2.5.10, “Managing MySQL Server with systemd”.

Suggested fix:
Fix the documentation.

The note here is somewhat vague but more correct.

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-startstop-excerpt/5.7/en/mysqld-safe.html

Note
As of MySQL 5.7.6, for MySQL installation using an RPM distribution, server startup and shutdown is managed by systemd on several Linux platforms. On these platforms, mysqld_safe is no longer installed because it is unnecessary. For more information, see Managing MySQL Server with systemd.

The documentation here is specific about which versions are affected.

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/server-management-using-systemd.html

As of MySQL 5.7.6, if you install MySQL using an RPM distribution on the following Linux platforms, server startup and shutdown is managed by systemd:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Oracle Linux 7, CentOS 7

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

Fedora 22 and 23

Hello monty,

Thank you for the report and feedback!

Thanks,
Umesh

Posted by developer:
 
The problematic bullet on http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/upgrading-from-previous-series.html has been corrected to the following:

"As of MySQL 5.7.6, for some Linux platforms, when MySQL is installed using RPM and Debian packages, server startup and shutdown now is managed using systemd rather than mysqld_safe, and mysqld_safe is not installed. This may require some adjustment to the manner in which you specify server options. For details, see Managing MySQL Server with systemd."