change datadir for MariaDB 5.5

Question

I want to change my datadir for MariaDB. I mean I want to have all my file except data folder in

C:\Program Files\MariaDB

5.5 and my data file in

C:\user\appdata.

I don't want any data file in the first path (even my.ini). When I go in my command line, and execute

C:\Program Files\MariaDB 5.5\bin\mysqld

it doesn't work because I don't have any data folder in this path :

C:\Program Files\MariaDB 5.5.

I know that I have to change datadir in my.ini but the problem is : how can I change the default path to my.ini? I repeat, I don't want any data file in

C:\Program Files\MariaDB 5.5

If I can change this default path, then I will just have to change datadir. Thanks guys for your answers and sorry for my English :)

Solution

I did this in Fedora 20, but in your Windows case things are similar.

1. Stop MariaDB using the following command:

   service mariadb stop
   

   or (for more recent Fedora versions)

   sudo systemctl stop mariadb
   

2. Make sure the parent directory of the new data directory has execute permissions.

   namei -mo /path/to/directory
   chmod +x /path/to/parent
   

3. Copy the existing data directory (default located in /var/lib/mysql) using the following command:

   sudo cp -R -p /var/lib/mysql /newpath
   

4. Edit the MariaDB configuration file with the following command:

   vim /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf
   

   or (for more recent MariaDB versions)

   vim /etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf
   

5. Look for the entry for datadir, or create one under [mysqld] and change the path (which should be /var/lib/mysql) to the new data directory.

   datadir   = /newpath
   

6. Restart MySQL with the command:

   service mariadb start
   

   or (for more recent Fedora versions)

   sudo systemctl start mariadb
   

Comments

[jjj]

Instructions for Windows are quite different. There is no server.cnf file, but my.ini instead. And it's located in data directory, so you need to make a copy of data folder, after you amend the datadir= in [mysqld] section.