How can I start and check my MySQL log?

Question

I want to check the log in MySQL to see the queries that are being run by my application. How can I do this? I am using XAMPP and the directory to MySQL is C:\xampp\mysql.

This is what I get when I do show variables like '%log%';

mysql> show variables like '%log%'; +---------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | Variable_name                   | Value                              | +---------------------------------+------------------------------------+ | back_log                        | 50                                 | | binlog_cache_size               | 32768                              | | binlog_format                   | STATEMENT                          | | expire_logs_days                | 0                                  | | general_log                     | OFF                                | | general_log_file                | C:/xampp/mysql/data/mysql.log      | | innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit  | 1                                  | | innodb_locks_unsafe_for_binlog  | OFF                                | | innodb_log_buffer_size          | 8388608                            | | innodb_log_file_size            | 5242880                            | | innodb_log_files_in_group       | 2                                  | | innodb_log_group_home_dir       | C:\xampp\mysql\data\               | | innodb_mirrored_log_groups      | 1                                  | | log                             | OFF                                | | log_bin                         | OFF                                | | log_bin_trust_function_creators | OFF                                | | log_bin_trust_routine_creators  | OFF                                | | log_error                       | C:\xampp\mysql\data\mysql.err      | | log_output                      | FILE                               | | log_queries_not_using_indexes   | OFF                                | | log_slave_updates               | OFF                                | | log_slow_queries                | OFF                                | | log_warnings                    | 1                                  | | max_binlog_cache_size           | 4294963200                         | | max_binlog_size                 | 1073741824                         | | max_relay_log_size              | 0                                  | | relay_log                       |                                    | | relay_log_index                 |                                    | | relay_log_info_file             | relay-log.info                     | | relay_log_purge                 | ON                                 | | relay_log_space_limit           | 0                                  | | slow_query_log                  | OFF                                | | slow_query_log_file             | C:/xampp/mysql/data/mysql-slow.log | | sql_log_bin                     | ON                                 | | sql_log_off                     | OFF                                | | sql_log_update                  | ON                                 | | sync_binlog                     | 0                                  | +---------------------------------+------------------------------------+ 37 rows in set (0.00 sec) 

Answer 1

Enable general query log by the following query in mysql command line

SET GLOBAL general_log = 'ON'; 

Now open C:/xampp/mysql/data/mysql.log and check query log

If it fails, open your my.cnf file. For windows its my.ini file and enable it there. Just make sure its in the [mysqld] section

[mysqld] general_log             = 1 

Note: In xampp my.ini file can be either found in xampp\mysql or in c:\windows directory

Answer 2

Set up the General Query Log.