--user=user This option provides the username for using mysqladmin . The same user must be used for all servers and must have the SHUTDOWN privilege on all of them. --version This option displays the version of the utility. mysqld_safe mysqld_safe mysqld_safe [options] mysqld_safe is recommended utility for starting the MySQL server because the server is restarted automatically if it dies unexpectedly. The utility is available on Unix and Novell NetWare systems. Although options may be entered from the command line, they should be included in the options file (e.g., my.cnf) under the heading [mysqld_safe] . Options specific to mysqld_safe should not be passed on the command line because they will be passed to the mysqld server, which will try to interpret them. Therefore, options are shown here as they would appear in the configuration file, without initial hyphens. mysqld_safe can also accept options for the mysqld server, but the configuration file is also better for these because it ensures they will be passed to the daemon when it's reloaded after a crash: autoclose