MySQL my.cnf file - Found option without preceding group

Question

I\'m trying to connect to my DB in Ubuntu remotely but I receive error message when trying to mysql -u root -p:

Found option without prec

Answer 1

I had this problem when I installed MySQL 8.0.15 with the community installer. The my.ini file that came with the installer did not work correctly after it had been edited. I did a full manual install by downloading that zip folder. I was able to create my own my.ini file containing only the parameters that I was concerned about and it worked.

1. download zip file from MySQL website
2. unpack the folder into C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0
3. within the MySQL8.0 folder that you unpacked the zip folder into, create a text file and save it as my.ini

4. include the parameters in that my.ini file that you are concerned about. so something like this(just ensure that there is already a folder created for the datadir or else initialization won't work):

   [mysqld]
   basedire=C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0
   datadir=D:\MySQL\Data
   ....continue with whatever parameters you want to include
   

5. initialize the data directory by running these two commands in the command prompt:

   cd C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0\bin
   mysqld --default-file=C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0\my.ini --initialize
   

6. install the MySQL server as a service by running these two commands:

   cd C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0\bin
   mysqld --install --default-file=C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0\my.ini
   

7. finally, start the server for the first time by running these two commands:

   cd C:\program files\MySQL\MySQL8.0\bin
   mysqld --console