MARIADBD-MULTI(1) MariaDB Database System MARIADBD-MULTI(1)
NAME
mariadbd-multi - manage multiple MariaDB servers (mariadbd-multi is now
a symlink to mariadbd-multi)
SYNOPSIS
mariadbd-multi [options] {start|stop|report} [GNR[,GNR] ...]
DESCRIPTION
mariadbd-multi is designed to manage several mariadbd processes that
listen for connections on different Unix socket files and TCP/IP ports.
It can start or stop servers, or report their current status.
mariadbd-multi searches for groups named [mariadbdN] in my.cnf (or in
the file named by the --config-file option). N can be any positive
integer. This number is referred to in the following discussion as the
option group number, or GNR. Group numbers distinguish option groups
from one another and are used as arguments to mariadbd-multi to specify
which servers you want to start, stop, or obtain a status report for.
Options listed in these groups are the same that you would use in the
[mariadbd] group used for starting mariadbd. However, when using
multiple servers, it is necessary that each one use its own value for
options such as the Unix socket file and TCP/IP port number.
To invoke mariadbd-multi, use the following syntax:
shell> mariadbd-multi [options] {start|stop|report} [GNR[,GNR] ...]
start, stop, and report indicate which operation to perform. You can
perform the designated operation for a single server or multiple
servers, depending on the GNR list that follows the option name. If
there is no list, mariadbd-multi performs the operation for all servers
in the option file.
Each GNR value represents an option group number or range of group
numbers. The value should be the number at the end of the group name in
the option file. For example, the GNR for a group named [mariadbd17] is
17. To specify a range of numbers, separate the first and last numbers
by a dash. The GNR value 10-13 represents groups [mariadbd10] through
[mariadbd13]. Multiple groups or group ranges can be specified on the
command line, separated by commas. There must be no whitespace
characters (spaces or tabs) in the GNR list; anything after a whitespace
character is ignored.
This command starts a single server using option group [mariadbd17]:
shell> mariadbd-multi start 17
This command stops several servers, using option groups [mariadbd8] and
[mariadbd10] through [mariadbd13]:
shell> mariadbd-multi stop 8,10-13
For an example of how you might set up an option file, use this command:
shell> mariadbd-multi --example
mariadbd-multi searches for option files as follows:
• With --no-defaults, no option files are read.
• With --defaults-file=file_name, only the named file is read.
• Otherwise, option files in the standard list of locations are read,
including any file named by the --defaults-extra-file=file_name
option, if one is given. (If the option is given multiple times, the
last value is used.)
Option files read are searched for [mariadbd-multi] and [mariadbdN]
option groups. The [mariadbd-multi] group can be used for options to
mariadbd-multi itself. [mariadbdN] groups can be used for options
passed to specific mariadbd instances.
The [mariadbd] or [mariadbd_safe] groups can be used for common options
read by all instances of mariadbd or mariadbd_safe. You can specify a
--defaults-file=file_name option to use a different configuration file
for that instance, in which case the [mariadbd] or [mariadbd_safe]
groups from that file will be used for that instance.
mariadbd-multi supports the following options.
• --help
Display a help message and exit.
• --example
Display a sample option file.
• --log=file_name
Specify the name of the log file. If the file exists, log output is
appended to it.
• --mariadb-admin=prog_name
The mariadb-admin binary to be used to stop servers.
• --mariadbd=prog_name
The mariadbd binary to be used. Note that you can specify
mariadbd_safe as the value for this option also. If you use
mariadbd_safe to start the server, you can include the mariadbd or
ledir options in the corresponding [mariadbdN] option group. These
options indicate the name of the server that mariadbd_safe should
start and the path name of the directory where the server is
located. (See the descriptions for these options in
mariadbd_safe(1).) Example:
[mariadbd38]
mariadbd = mariadbd-debug
ledir = /opt/local/mysql/libexec
• --no-log
Print log information to stdout rather than to the log file. By
default, output goes to the log file.
• --password=password
The password of the MariaDB account to use when invoking mariadb-
admin. Note that the password value is not optional for this option,
unlike for other MariaDB programs.
• --silent
Silent mode; disable warnings.
• --tcp-ip
Connect to the MariaDB server(s) via the TCP/IP port instead of the
UNIX socket. This affects stopping and reporting. If a socket file
is missing, the server may still be running, but can be accessed
only via the TCP/IP port. By default connecting is done via the UNIX
socket. This option affects stop and report operations.
• --user=user_name
The user name of the MariaDB account to use when invoking mariadb-
admin.
• --verbose
Be more verbose.
• --version
Display version information and exit.
• --wsrep-new-cluster
Bootstrap a cluster.
Some notes about mariadbd-multi:
• Most important: Before using mariadbd-multi be sure that you
understand the meanings of the options that are passed to the
mariadbd servers and why you would want to have separate mariadbd
processes. Beware of the dangers of using multiple mariadbd servers
with the same data directory. Use separate data directories, unless
you know what you are doing. Starting multiple servers with the same
data directory does not give you extra performance in a threaded
system.
• Important: Make sure that the data directory for each server is
fully accessible to the Unix account that the specific mariadbd
process is started as. Do not use the Unix root account for this,
unless you know what you are doing.
• Make sure that the MariaDB account used for stopping the mariadbd
servers (with the mariadbadmin program) has the same user name and
password for each server. Also, make sure that the account has the
SHUTDOWN privilege. If the servers that you want to manage have
different user names or passwords for the administrative accounts,
you might want to create an account on each server that has the same
user name and password. For example, you might set up a common
multi_admin account by executing the following commands for each
server:
shell> mariadb -u root -S /tmp/mariadb.sock -p
Enter password:
mariadb> GRANT SHUTDOWN ON *.*
-> TO 'multi_admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'multipass';
Change the connection parameters appropriately when connecting to
each one. Note that the host name part of the account name must
allow you to connect as multi_admin from the host where you want to
run mariadbd-multi.
• The Unix socket file and the TCP/IP port number must be different
for every mariadbd. (Alternatively, if the host has multiple network
addresses, you can use --bind-address to cause different servers to
listen to different interfaces.)
• The --pid-file option is very important if you are using mariadbd-
safe to start mariadbd (for example, --mariadbd=mariadbd-safe) Every
mariadbd should have its own process ID file. The advantage of using
mariadbd-safe instead of mariadbd is that mariadbd-safe monitors its
mariadbd process and restarts it if the process terminates due to a
signal sent using kill -9 or for other reasons, such as a
segmentation fault. Please note that the mariadbd-safe script might
require that you start it from a certain place. This means that you
might have to change location to a certain directory before running
mariadbd-multi. If you have problems starting, please see the
mariadbd-safe script. Check especially the lines:
----------------------------------------------------------------
MY_PWD=`pwd`
# Check if we are starting this relative (for the binary release)
if test -d $MY_PWD/data/mariadb -a \
-f ./share/mariadb/english/errmsg.sys -a \
-x ./bin/mariadbd
----------------------------------------------------------------
The test performed by these lines should be successful, or you might
encounter problems. See mariadbd-safe(1).
• You might want to use the --user option for mariadbd, but to do this
you need to run the mariadbd-multi script as the Unix root user.
Having the option in the option file doesn't matter; you just get a
warning if you are not the superuser and the mariadbd processes are
started under your own Unix account.
The following example shows how you might set up an option file for use
with mariadbd-multi. The order in which the mariadbd programs are
started or stopped depends on the order in which they appear in the
option file. Group numbers need not form an unbroken sequence. The first
and fifth [mariadbdN] groups were intentionally omitted from the example
to illustrate that you can have “gaps” in the option file. This gives
you more flexibility.
# This file should probably be in your home dir (~/.my.cnf)
# or /etc/my.cnf
# Version 2.1 by Jani Tolonen
[mariadbd-multi]
mariadbd = /usr/local/bin/mariadbd-safe
mariadb-admin = /usr/local/bin/mariadb-admin
user = multi_admin
password = multipass
[mariadbd2]
socket = /tmp/mariadb.sock2
port = 3307
pid-file = /usr/local/mysql/var2/hostname.pid2
datadir = /usr/local/mysql/var2
language = /usr/local/share/mariadb/english
user = john
[mariadbd3]
socket = /tmp/mysql.sock3
port = 3308
pid-file = /usr/local/mysql/var3/hostname.pid3
datadir = /usr/local/mysql/var3
language = /usr/local/share/mariadb/swedish
user = monty
[mariadbd4]
socket = /tmp/mysql.sock4
port = 3309
pid-file = /usr/local/mysql/var4/hostname.pid4
datadir = /usr/local/mysql/var4
language = /usr/local/share/mariadb/estonia
user = tonu
[mariadbd6]
socket = /tmp/mysql.sock6
port = 3311
pid-file = /usr/local/mysql/var6/hostname.pid6
datadir = /usr/local/mysql/var6
language = /usr/local/share/mariadb/japanese
user = jani
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2007-2008 MySQL AB, 2008-2010 Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
2010-2025 MariaDB Foundation
This documentation is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it only under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with the program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1335 USA or see
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
SEE ALSO
For more information, please refer to the MariaDB Knowledge Base,
available online at https://mariadb.com/kb/
AUTHOR
MariaDB Foundation (http://www.mariadb.org/).
MariaDB 11.8 5 March 2025 MARIADBD-MULTI(1)
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