On Windows, symbolic links can be used for database directories. This enables you to put a database directory at a different location (for example, on a different disk) by setting up a symbolic link to it. Use of database symlinks on Windows is similar to their use on Unix, although the procedure for setting up the link differs.
Suppose that you want to place the database directory for a
database named mydb
at
D:\data\mydb
. To do this, create a
symbolic link in the MySQL data directory that points to
D:\data\mydb
. However, before creating
the symbolic link, make sure that the
D:\data\mydb
directory exists by creating
it if necessary. If you already have a database directory
named mydb
in the data directory, move it
to D:\data
. Otherwise, the symbolic link
has no effect. To avoid problems, make sure that the server is
not running when you move the database directory.
On Windows, you can create a symlink using the mklink command. This command requires administrative privileges.
Make sure that the desired path to the database exists. For this example, we use
D:\data\mydb
, and a database namedmydb
.If the database does not already exist, issue
CREATE DATABASE mydb
in the mysql client to create it.Stop the MySQL service.
Using Windows Explorer or the command line, move the directory
mydb
from the data directory toD:\data
, replacing the directory of the same name.If you are not already using the command prompt, open it, and change location to the data directory, like this:
Press CTRL+C to copyC:\> cd \path\to\datadir
If your MySQL installation is in the default location, you can use this:
Press CTRL+C to copyC:\> cd C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.4\Data
In the data directory, create a symlink named
mydb
that points to the location of the database directory:Press CTRL+C to copyC:\> mklink /d mydb D:\data\mydb
Start the MySQL service.
After this, all tables created in the database
mydb
are created in
D:\data\mydb
.
Alternatively, on any version of Windows supported by MySQL,
you can create a symbolic link to a MySQL database by creating
a .sym
file in the data directory that
contains the path to the destination directory. The file
should be named
,
where db_name
.symdb_name
is the database name.
Support for database symbolic links on Windows using
.sym
files is enabled by default. If you
do not need .sym
file symbolic links, you
can disable support for them by starting
mysqld with the
--skip-symbolic-links
option. To determine whether your system supports
.sym
file symbolic links, check the value
of the have_symlink
system
variable using this statement:
Press CTRL+C to copySHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'have_symlink';
To create a .sym
file symlink, use this
procedure:
Change location into the data directory:
Press CTRL+C to copyC:\> cd \path\to\datadir
In the data directory, create a text file named
mydb.sym
that contains this path name:D:\data\mydb\
NoteThe path name to the new database and tables should be absolute. If you specify a relative path, the location is relative to the
mydb.sym
file.
After this, all tables created in the database
mydb
are created in
D:\data\mydb
.