Minimum database privileges to use load data infile

Question

I'm using mysqlimport to replace data in a table with values from a TSV file. Everything is working fine (importing data using the DB superuser name and password), so now I want to lock it down so that the database user doing the import can only affect the single table I want to replace.

I know I need to grant FILE on . in order to use "LOAD DATA INFILE" (which mysqlimport wraps), but I'm having trouble finding the minimum set of permissions I can grant on the database.

I've tried;

grant FILE on *.* to ...
grant ALL on dbname.tablename to ....

But that gives me an error when I run mysqlimport;

mysqlimport: Error: Access denied for user ...

Does anyone know if it's possible to isolate the database so that only the relevant table can be altered by this user, or do I have to allow them broader access to make the mysqlimport possible?

Answer 1

Unhopefully , FILE right is not bound to a database, it is a global Mysql right that is needed to perform INFILE operations.

see http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/privileges-provided.html#priv_file