Does the MySQL Command Line Interface (CLI) have connection environment variables?

Question

Does the MySQL Command Line Interface (CLI) or "shell" offer the ability to establish a connection using environment variables? The PostgreSQL CLI psql does via libpq with connection variables:

• PGHOST
• PGPORT
• PGDATABASE
• PGUSER
• PGPASSWORD

I know I can connect via command-line switches and a ~/my.cnf file, but I'm wondering if there is an environment variable option analogous to the way psql works. Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes, for some of them: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/environment-variables.html

• MYSQL_HOST
• MYSQL_TCP_PORT
• There is no environment variable for the schema to use as the default schema. Client should specify that in the connection DSN, or else the USE schema statement after connecting.
• There is no environment variable for the MySQL username.
• MYSQL_PWD but this is deprecated and insecure and will be removed in a future version of MySQL. It's insecure for PostgreSQL for the same reason: another user can view your client's environment variables using ps.

It's more secure to use ~/.my.cnf, or you can specify a different option file to use. You can even store the username/password in an encrypted options file. See https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/option-files.html