[plug] MySQLd fails to start

[Onno Benschop]

On Thu, 2003-05-22 at 15:32, Jon Miller wrote:
> Is this an upgrade? If so have a look at your /etc/my.cnf file and see
> if there are any changes.  Generally if upgrading MySql there will be
> changes that took place in the /etc/my.cnf file.

Hmm, it wasn't. (Not two days ago, but twenty-odd AFAIK, with numerous
reboots inbetween - I suppose it could have broken then :-(

More and more curious.

The RTFM in /usr/share/doc/mysql-server/README.Debian tells me:

> * MYSQL WON'T START?:
> =====================
> You may never ever delete the special "debian-sys-maint" user. This user
> together with the credentials in /etc/mysql/debian.cnf are used by the
> init scripts to stop the server as they would require knowledge of the
> mysql root users password else.

Now this user doesn't actually exist, nor does it appear to ever have
existed. Searching the 'net tells me that debconf should have created
this user, but I have no idea how I get it to do this without actually
manually creating it - which I shouldn't have to do.

Moreover, how can this have come to be?

There is a reference to the debian-sys-maint user in
/etc/mysql/debian.cnf, which was last modified on September 27. The
modification date for /etc/mysql/my.cnf is May 2.

I still have some hair left, but it is rapidly falling out...

Onno Benschop 

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