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MySQL 9.4 Reference Manual  / ...  / Security  / General Security Issues  /  How to Run MySQL as a Normal User

8.1.5 How to Run MySQL as a Normal User

On Windows, you can run the server as a Windows service using a normal user account.

On Linux, for installations performed using a MySQL repository or RPM packages, the MySQL servermysqld should be started by the localmysql operating system user. Starting by another operating system user is not supported by the init scripts that are included as part of the MySQL repositories.

On Unix (or Linux for installations performed usingtar.gz packages) , the MySQL servermysqld can be started and run by any user. However, you should avoid running the server as the Unixroot user for security reasons. To changemysqld to run as a normal unprivileged Unix useruser_name, you must do the following:

  1. Stop the server if it is running (usemysqladmin shutdown).

  2. Change the database directories and files so thatuser_name has privileges to read and write files in them (you might need to do this as the Unixroot user):

    $> chown -Ruser_name/path/to/mysql/datadir

    If you do not do this, the server cannot access databases or tables when it runs asuser_name.

    If directories or files within the MySQL data directory are symbolic links,chown -R might not follow symbolic links for you. If it does not, you must also follow those links and change the directories and files they point to.

  3. Start the server as useruser_name. Another alternative is to startmysqld as the Unixroot user and use the--user=user_name option.mysqld starts, then switches to run as the Unix useruser_name before accepting any connections.

  4. To start the server as the given user automatically at system startup time, specify the user name by adding auser option to the[mysqld] group of the/etc/my.cnf option file or themy.cnf option file in the server's data directory. For example:

    [mysqld]user=user_name

If your Unix machine itself is not secured, you should assign passwords to the MySQLroot account in the grant tables. Otherwise, any user with a login account on that machine can run themysql client with a--user=root option and perform any operation. (It is a good idea to assign passwords to MySQL accounts in any case, but especially so when other login accounts exist on the server host.) SeeSection 2.9.4, “Securing the Initial MySQL Account”.