Server Administration - MySQL - page 765

• Write the general and slow query logs to tables in the mysql database (the table
names are general_log and slow_log and cannot be changed):
[mysqld]
log_output=TABLE
general_log=1
slow_query_log=1
• Write the general query log to a file named query.log and to the general_log table:
[mysqld]
log_output=FILE,TABLE
general_log=1
general_log_file=query.log
The binary log
To enable the binary log, use the --log-bin option, optionally specifying the logfile
basename as the option value. The default basename is host_name -bin . The value for
this option is a basename because the server creates binary logfiles in numbered se‐
quence, automatically adding to the basename suffixes of .000001 , .000002 , and so forth.
The server advances to the next file in the sequence when it starts, when the logs are
flushed, and when the current file reaches the maximum logfile size (controlled by the
max_binlog_size system variable). To have the server expire logfiles for you, set the
expire_logs_days system variable to the age in days at which files become eligible for
removal.
Examples:
• Enable the binary log, writing numbered files in the data directory having names
beginning with host_name -bin :
[mysqld]
log-bin
• Enable the binary log, writing numbered files in the data directory having names
beginning with binlog . Additionally, expire logfiles after a week:
[mysqld]
log-bin=binlog
max_binlog_size=4G
expire_logs_days=7
22.4. Rotating or Expiring Logfiles
Problem
Files used for logging grow indefinitely unless managed.