This tab allows configuration of the Windows service starting the MySQL server, as well as setting some options for the server itself. As this tab is specific for MySQL servers running under Windows only, it is not available for servers running under a different operating system.
Note that the settings in the Server Features group will take effect only when the MySQL server is restarted.
The following settings are available:
Service Settings
Launch MySQL server automatically: If enabled, the Windows service (and, thus, the MySQL server) will start automatically on operating system startup.
Display Name: The display name of the Windows service (not the service name!) as it will appear in the Windows services management when displaying the properties of that service.
Service Description: The description of the Windows service as it will appear in the Windows services management.
Option File
Config Filename[SH] Mike: "Config" is ugly. Suggestion: Filename: You can enter path and filename for the server option file. MySQL will enter that information in the Windows registry, and the Windows service starting the MySQL server will use that file, rather than the default file (c:\windows installation directory\my.ini). Note that this is available for MySQL servers as of version 4.0.3 only. Details about the server option files can be found in the Preparing the Windows MySQL Environment section.
Section Name: [SH] FILL IN Setting a value other than mysqld is most useful when running multiple servers; see Running Multiple Servers on Windows. [SH] Mike: In which cases is this field greyed out? [SH] Paul: As of which version does MySQL support reading sections other than "mysqld" from the config file? [PD] Stefan: What section names are you referring to? If you mean the section named after the service, for service installations, it's 4.0.2. If you mean the change that allows 4.x.y servers to read the group named [mysqld-4.x], I'm not sure.
Server Features
Note that all server features will only be activated after the MySQL server has been restarted.
Support for InnoDB: If enabled, the MySQL server is started with support for InnoDB tables. If disabled, it doesn't start the InnoDB storage engine (which saves memory), so InnoDB tables cannot be used. This checkbox might be disabled and greyed out, which means that your MySQL server isn't compiled with support for InnoDB tables. (This is, for example, true for older versions of the 3.23 series, and for some newer versions that run under a commercial license.) You can find more information on InnoDB tables in the MySQL Table Types section.
Be careful when disabling that option! If there are databases on the MySQL server that contain InnoDB tables, then those tables will be unaccessible after disabling that option.
Support for BDB: If enabled, the MySQL server is started with support for BDB tables. If disabled, it doesn't start the BDB storage engine (which saves memory), so BDB tables cannot be used. This checkbox might be disabled and greyed out, which means that your MySQL server isn't compiled with support for BDB tables. (This is, for example, true for older versions of the 3.23 series, and for newer non-max versions.) You can find more information on BDB tables in the MySQL Table Types section.
Be careful when disabling that option! If there are databases on the MySQL server that contain BDB tables, then those tables will be unaccessible after disabling that option.
Named Pipes: On operating systems of the Windows NT family, including Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, you may use named pipes to connect to a MySQL server running on the local machine, rather than connecting via TCP/IP. If enabled, named pipes will be used, which is slower in many Windows configurations. See the Selecting a Windows Server section for details.
Debug Information (slow): If enabled, the MySQL server is started with an option that allows for easier debugging of problems. Using this option will slow down the server significantly. Therefore, it is only recommended to use for debugging purposes. Furthermore, the MySQL server has to be compiled with debugging, otherwise this option will be greyed out. See the mysqld Command-line Options section for details.
Path to Binary: Contains the path and the name of the MySQL server binary file as it is listed in the Windows service management, for example c:\mysql\bin\mysqld-max-nt. Note that the .exe extension is omitted.