Invoke mysqlimport like this:

shell> mysqlimport [options] db_name textfile1 [textfile2 ...]

For each text file named on the command line, mysqlimport strips any extension from the file name and uses the result to determine the name of the table into which to import the file's contents. For example, files named patient.txt, patient.text, and patient all would be imported into a table named patient.

mysqlimport supports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the [mysqlimport] and [client] groups of an option file. For information about option files used by MySQL programs, see Section 4.2.6, "Using Option Files".

• --help, -?

Display a help message and exit.

• --bind-address=ip_address

On a computer having multiple network interfaces, use this option to select which interface to use for connecting to the MySQL server.

This option is supported beginning with MySQL 5.6.1.

• --character-sets-dir=dir_name

The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 10.5, "Character Set Configuration".

• --columns=column_list, -c column_list

This option takes a comma-separated list of column names as its value. The order of the column names indicates how to match data file columns with table columns.

• --compress, -C

Compress all information sent between the client and the server if both support compression.

• --debug[=debug_options], -# [debug_options]

Write a debugging log. A typical debug_options string is d:t:o,file_name. The default is d:t:o.

• --debug-check

Print some debugging information when the program exits.

• --debug-info

Print debugging information and memory and CPU usage statistics when the program exits.

• --default-character-set=charset_name

Use charset_name as the default character set. See Section 10.5, "Character Set Configuration".

• --default-auth=plugin

A hint about the client-side authentication plugin to use. See Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".

This option was added in MySQL 5.6.2.

• --defaults-extra-file=file_name

Read this option file after the global option file but (on Unix) before the user option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. file_name is interpreted relative to the current directory if given as a relative path name rather than a full path name.

• --defaults-file=file_name

Use only the given option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. file_name is interpreted relative to the current directory if given as a relative path name rather than a full path name.

• --defaults-group-suffix=str

Read not only the usual option groups, but also groups with the usual names and a suffix of str. For example, mysqlimport normally reads the [client] and [mysqlimport] groups. If the --defaults-group-suffix=_other option is given, mysqlimport also reads the [client_other] and [mysqlimport_other] groups.

• --delete, -D

Empty the table before importing the text file.

• --enable-cleartext-plugin

Enable the mysql_clear_password cleartext authentication plugin. (See Section 6.4.1.7, "The Cleartext Client-Side Authentication Plugin".)

This option was added in MySQL 5.6.28.

• --fields-terminated-by=..., --fields-enclosed-by=..., --fields-optionally-enclosed-by=..., --fields-escaped-by=...

These options have the same meaning as the corresponding clauses for LOAD DATA INFILE. See Section 13.2.6, "LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax".

• --force, -f

Ignore errors. For example, if a table for a text file does not exist, continue processing any remaining files. Without --force, mysqlimport exits if a table does not exist.

• --host=host_name, -h host_name

Import data to the MySQL server on the given host. The default host is localhost.

• --ignore, -i

See the description for the --replace option.

• --ignore-lines=N

Ignore the first N lines of the data file.

• --lines-terminated-by=...

This option has the same meaning as the corresponding clause for LOAD DATA INFILE. For example, to import Windows files that have lines terminated with carriage return/linefeed pairs, use --lines-terminated-by="\r\n". (You might have to double the backslashes, depending on the escaping conventions of your command interpreter.) See Section 13.2.6, "LOAD DATA INFILE Syntax".

• --local, -L

Read input files locally from the client host.

• --lock-tables, -l

Lock all tables for writing before processing any text files. This ensures that all tables are synchronized on the server.

• --login-path=name

Read options from the named login path in the .mylogin.cnf login path file. A "login path" is an option group containing options that specify which MySQL server to connect to and which account to authenticate as. To create or modify a login path file, use the mysql_config_editor utility. See mysql_config_editor(1). This option was added in MySQL 5.6.6.

• --low-priority

Use LOW_PRIORITY when loading the table. This affects only storage engines that use only table-level locking (such as MyISAM, MEMORY, and MERGE).

• --no-defaults

Do not read any option files. If program startup fails due to reading unknown options from an option file, --no-defaults can be used to prevent them from being read.

The exception is that the .mylogin.cnf file, if it exists, is read in all cases. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way than on the command line even when --no-defaults is used. (.mylogin.cnf is created by the mysql_config_editor utility. See mysql_config_editor(1).)

• --password[=password], -p[password]

The password to use when connecting to the server. If you use the short option form (-p), you cannot have a space between the option and the password. If you omit the password value following the --password or -p option on the command line, mysqlimport prompts for one.

Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. See Section 6.1.2.1, "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". You can use an option file to avoid giving the password on the command line.

• --pipe, -W

On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option applies only if the server supports named-pipe connections.

• --plugin-dir=dir_name

The directory in which to look for plugins. Specify this option if the --default-auth option is used to specify an authentication plugin but mysqlimport does not find it. See Section 6.3.7, "Pluggable Authentication".

This option was added in MySQL 5.6.2.

• --port=port_num, -P port_num

The TCP/IP port number to use for the connection.

• --print-defaults

Print the program name and all options that it gets from option files.

• --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

The connection protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a protocol to be used other than the one you want. For details on the permissible values, see Section 4.2.2, "Connecting to the MySQL Server".

• --replace, -r

The --replace and --ignore options control handling of input rows that duplicate existing rows on unique key values. If you specify --replace, new rows replace existing rows that have the same unique key value. If you specify --ignore, input rows that duplicate an existing row on a unique key value are skipped. If you do not specify either option, an error occurs when a duplicate key value is found, and the rest of the text file is ignored.

• --secure-auth

Do not send passwords to the server in old (pre-4.1) format. This prevents connections except for servers that use the newer password format. This option is enabled by default; use --skip-secure-auth to disable it. This option was added in MySQL 5.6.17.

Note
Passwords that use the pre-4.1 hashing method are less secure than passwords that use the native password hashing method and should be avoided. Pre-4.1 passwords are deprecated and support for them will be removed in a future MySQL release. For account upgrade instructions, see Section 6.4.1.3, "Migrating Away from Pre-4.1 Password Hashing and the mysql_old_password Plugin".

• --shared-memory-base-name=name

On Windows, the shared-memory name to use, for connections made using shared memory to a local server. The default value is MYSQL. The shared-memory name is case sensitive.

The server must be started with the --shared-memory option to enable shared-memory connections.

• --silent, -s

Silent mode. Produce output only when errors occur.

• --socket=path, -S path

For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.

• --ssl*

Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the server using SSL and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. See Section 6.3.9.5, "Command Options for Secure Connections".

• --user=user_name, -u user_name

The MySQL user name to use when connecting to the server.

• --use-threads=N

Load files in parallel using N threads.

• --verbose, -v

Verbose mode. Print more information about what the program does.

• --version, -V

Display version information and exit.

Here is a sample session that demonstrates use of mysqlimport:

shell> mysql -e 'CREATE TABLE imptest(id INT, n VARCHAR(30))' test
shell> ed
a
100     Max Sydow
101     Count Dracula
.
w imptest.txt
32
q
shell> od -c imptest.txt
0000000   1   0   0  \t   M   a   x       S   y   d   o   w  \n   1   0
0000020   1  \t   C   o   u   n   t       D   r   a   c   u   l   a  \n
0000040
shell> mysqlimport --local test imptest.txt
test.imptest: Records: 2  Deleted: 0  Skipped: 0  Warnings: 0
shell> mysql -e 'SELECT * FROM imptest' test
+------+---------------+
| id   | n             |
+------+---------------+
|  100 | Max Sydow     |
|  101 | Count Dracula |
+------+---------------+