Where can I find the MySQL log file in XAMPP

Question

I use PHP to access MySQL in XAMPP. My question is where I can find the MySQL log file if there is a DB error.

Also, can I change the default location/name of that log file?

Thank you

///// Based on the coments //////

mysql> show variables like '%log_file%'; +---------------------------+------------------------------------+ | Variable_name             | Value                              | +---------------------------+------------------------------------+ | general_log_file          | C:/xampp/mysql/data/mysql.log      | | innodb_log_file_size      | 5242880                            | | innodb_log_files_in_group | 2                                  | | slow_query_log_file       | C:/xampp/mysql/data/mysql-slow.log | +---------------------------+------------------------------------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec) 

Answer 1

If you do

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE '%log_file%'; 

it will show exactly where they're being written.

Answer 2

The accepted answer is a bit old, for MySQL 5.1+

you may use the queries:

SET GLOBAL general_log = 'ON'; SET GLOBAL general_log_file = 'my_log.log'; 

First will enable loging (which may be off by default)
and the second select updates the preferred file (by default under C:/xampp/mysql/data/).

NOTE: On windows 8 you may have to run your SQL IDE as ADMINISTRATOR for this commands to get saved.

NOTE2: you can also set this in the config, go to path_to_xampp/mysql/ and edit my.ini
(copy from my-default.ini if it does not exists) and add the settings there:

[mysqld]  general_log = 'ON'; general_log_file = 'my_log.log';  sql_mode=NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES