Where does the mysql database files actually reside?

Question

Hi, Im just curious as I am beginning to learn php and mysql, as to where the database and other files of mysql reside on the hard drive. I have installed wamp on a windows xp sp2 platform.

Answer 1

Usually in the /mysql/data directory of your WAMP installation. You'll recognize the location because every database has a folder with the same name there.

You can change the location of the data directory using the datadir setting in my.cnf. It is often moved elsewhere to ensure the data there gets backed up regularly.

Answer 2

I am not sure about WAMP, but if you install MySQL manually it should reside somewhere along the lines of this path:

C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1

Answer 3

Explore variables from the output of following command:

mysql> show variables like '%dir%'