1

A client of my IT-consulting service owns a web-development shop. He's been having problems with a Slackware 12.0 server running MySQL 5.0.67. The machine was set up by the client's sysadmin, who left on bad terms. My client no longer employs a sysadmin.

As far as I can tell, the only copy of MySQL that's installed is the one described in /var/log/packages/mysql-5.0.67-i486-1:

PACKAGE NAME:     mysql-5.0.67-i486-1
COMPRESSED PACKAGE SIZE:     16828 K
UNCOMPRESSED PACKAGE SIZE:     33840 K
PACKAGE LOCATION: /var/slapt-get/archives/./slackware/ap/mysql-5.0.67-i486-1.tgz
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
mysql: mysql (SQL-based relational database server)
mysql:
mysql: MySQL is a fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL
mysql: (Structured Query Language) database server.  It comes with a nice API
mysql: which makes it easy to integrate into other applications.
mysql:
mysql: The home page for MySQL is http://www.mysql.com/
mysql:
mysql:
mysql:
mysql:
FILE LIST:
./
var/
var/lib/
var/lib/mysql/
var/run/
var/run/mysql/
install/
install/doinst.sh
install/slack-desc
usr/
usr/include/
usr/include/mysql/
usr/include/mysql/my_alloc.h
usr/include/mysql/sql_common.h
usr/include/mysql/my_dbug.h
usr/include/mysql/errmsg.h
usr/include/mysql/my_pthread.h
usr/include/mysql/my_list.h
usr/include/mysql/mysql.h
usr/include/mysql/sslopt-vars.h
usr/include/mysql/my_config.h
usr/include/mysql/mysql_com.h
usr/include/mysql/m_string.h
usr/include/mysql/sslopt-case.h
usr/include/mysql/my_xml.h
usr/include/mysql/sql_state.h
usr/include/mysql/my_global.h
usr/include/mysql/my_sys.h
usr/include/mysql/mysqld_ername.h
usr/include/mysql/mysqld_error.h
usr/include/mysql/sslopt-longopts.h
usr/include/mysql/keycache.h
usr/include/mysql/my_net.h
usr/include/mysql/mysql_version.h
usr/include/mysql/my_no_pthread.h
usr/include/mysql/decimal.h
usr/include/mysql/readline.h
usr/include/mysql/my_attribute.h
usr/include/mysql/typelib.h
usr/include/mysql/my_dir.h
usr/include/mysql/raid.h
usr/include/mysql/m_ctype.h
usr/include/mysql/mysql_embed.h
usr/include/mysql/mysql_time.h
usr/include/mysql/my_getopt.h
usr/lib/
usr/lib/mysql/
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient_r.so.15.0.0
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient_r.la
usr/lib/mysql/libmyisammrg.a
usr/lib/mysql/libmystrings.a
usr/lib/mysql/libmyisam.a
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.15.0.0
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient_r.a
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.a
usr/lib/mysql/libheap.a
usr/lib/mysql/libvio.a
usr/lib/mysql/libmysqlclient.la
usr/lib/mysql/libmysys.a
usr/lib/mysql/libdbug.a
usr/bin/
usr/bin/comp_err
usr/bin/my_print_defaults
usr/bin/resolve_stack_dump
usr/bin/msql2mysql
usr/bin/mysqltestmanager-pwgen
usr/bin/myisampack
usr/bin/replace
usr/bin/mysqld_multi
usr/bin/mysqlaccess
usr/bin/mysql_install_db
usr/bin/innochecksum
usr/bin/myisam_ftdump
usr/bin/mysqlcheck
usr/bin/mysqltest
usr/bin/mysql_upgrade_shell
usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation
usr/bin/mysql_fix_extensions
usr/bin/mysqld_safe
usr/bin/mysql_explain_log
usr/bin/mysqlimport
usr/bin/myisamlog
usr/bin/mysql_tzinfo_to_sql
usr/bin/mysql_upgrade
usr/bin/mysqltestmanager
usr/bin/mysql_fix_privilege_tables
usr/bin/mysql_find_rows
usr/bin/mysql_convert_table_format
usr/bin/mysqltestmanagerc
usr/bin/mysqlhotcopy
usr/bin/mysqldump
usr/bin/mysqlshow
usr/bin/mysqlbug
usr/bin/mysql_config
usr/bin/mysqldumpslow
usr/bin/mysql_waitpid
usr/bin/mysqlbinlog
usr/bin/mysql_client_test
usr/bin/perror
usr/bin/mysql
usr/bin/myisamchk
usr/bin/mysql_setpermission
usr/bin/mysqladmin
usr/bin/mysql_zap
usr/bin/mysql_tableinfo
usr/bin/resolveip
usr/share/
usr/share/mysql/
usr/share/mysql/errmsg.txt
usr/share/mysql/swedish/
usr/share/mysql/swedish/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/mysql_system_tables_data.sql
usr/share/mysql/mysql.server
usr/share/mysql/hungarian/
usr/share/mysql/hungarian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/norwegian/
usr/share/mysql/norwegian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/slovak/
usr/share/mysql/slovak/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/spanish/
usr/share/mysql/spanish/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/polish/
usr/share/mysql/polish/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/ukrainian/
usr/share/mysql/ukrainian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/danish/
usr/share/mysql/danish/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/romanian/
usr/share/mysql/romanian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/english/
usr/share/mysql/english/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/charsets/
usr/share/mysql/charsets/latin2.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/greek.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/koi8r.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/latin1.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp866.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/geostd8.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp1250.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/koi8u.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp852.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/hebrew.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/latin7.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/README
usr/share/mysql/charsets/ascii.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp1251.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/macce.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/latin5.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/Index.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/macroman.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp1256.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/keybcs2.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/swe7.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/armscii8.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/dec8.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp1257.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/hp8.xml
usr/share/mysql/charsets/cp850.xml
usr/share/mysql/korean/
usr/share/mysql/korean/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/german/
usr/share/mysql/german/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/mi_test_all.res
usr/share/mysql/greek/
usr/share/mysql/greek/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/french/
usr/share/mysql/french/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/mysql_fix_privilege_tables.sql
usr/share/mysql/dutch/
usr/share/mysql/dutch/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/serbian/
usr/share/mysql/serbian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/mysql_system_tables.sql
usr/share/mysql/my-huge.cnf
usr/share/mysql/portuguese/
usr/share/mysql/portuguese/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/japanese/
usr/share/mysql/japanese/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/mysql_test_data_timezone.sql
usr/share/mysql/russian/
usr/share/mysql/russian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/czech/
usr/share/mysql/czech/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/fill_help_tables.sql
usr/share/mysql/estonian/
usr/share/mysql/estonian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/my-medium.cnf
usr/share/mysql/norwegian-ny/
usr/share/mysql/norwegian-ny/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/my-small.cnf
usr/share/mysql/mysql-log-rotate
usr/share/mysql/italian/
usr/share/mysql/italian/errmsg.sys
usr/share/mysql/my-large.cnf
usr/share/mysql/ndb-config-2-node.ini
usr/share/mysql/binary-configure
usr/share/mysql/mi_test_all
usr/share/mysql/mysqld_multi.server
usr/share/mysql/my-innodb-heavy-4G.cnf
usr/doc/
usr/doc/mysql-5.0.67/
usr/doc/mysql-5.0.67/README
usr/doc/mysql-5.0.67/Docs/
usr/doc/mysql-5.0.67/Docs/INSTALL-BINARY
usr/doc/mysql-5.0.67/COPYING
usr/info/
usr/info/mysql.info.gz
usr/libexec/
usr/libexec/mysqld
usr/libexec/mysqlmanager
usr/man/
usr/man/man8/
usr/man/man8/mysqlmanager.8.gz
usr/man/man8/mysqld.8.gz
usr/man/man1/
usr/man/man1/mysql_zap.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_setpermission.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_tzinfo_to_sql.1.gz
usr/man/man1/msql2mysql.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_tableinfo.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_explain_log.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlcheck.1.gz
usr/man/man1/comp_err.1.gz
usr/man/man1/my_print_defaults.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlbinlog.1.gz
usr/man/man1/myisam_ftdump.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_upgrade.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_client_test.1.gz
usr/man/man1/resolve_stack_dump.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_fix_extensions.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlmanagerc.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_config.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlshow.1.gz
usr/man/man1/myisamlog.1.gz
usr/man/man1/replace.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlmanager-pwgen.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqltest.1.gz
usr/man/man1/innochecksum.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqladmin.1.gz
usr/man/man1/perror.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_waitpid.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_convert_table_format.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlman.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlimport.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlbug.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_find_rows.1.gz
usr/man/man1/myisampack.1.gz
usr/man/man1/myisamchk.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_fix_privilege_tables.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql-stress-test.pl.1.gz
usr/man/man1/resolveip.1.gz
usr/man/man1/make_win_bin_dist.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlhotcopy.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqld_multi.1.gz
usr/man/man1/safe_mysqld.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_secure_installation.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql_install_db.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqldump.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql-test-run.pl.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqld_safe.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysqlaccess.1.gz
usr/man/man1/mysql.server.1.gz
usr/man/man1/make_win_src_distribution.1.gz
etc/
etc/rc.d/
etc/rc.d/rc.mysqld.new
etc/my-huge.cnf
etc/my-medium.cnf
etc/my-small.cnf
etc/my-large.cnf

/etc/rc.d/rc.mysqld is an ordinary Slackware-type start/stop script:

#!/bin/sh
# Start/stop/restart mysqld.
#
# Copyright 2003 Patrick J. Volkerding, Concord, CA
# Copyright 2003 Slackware Linux, Inc., Concord, CA
#
# This program comes with NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
# You may redistribute copies of this program under the  terms of the
# GNU General Public License.

# To start MySQL automatically at boot, be sure this script is executable:
# chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/rc.mysqld

# Before you can run MySQL, you must have a database.  To install an initial
# database, do this as root:
#
#   su - mysql
#   mysql_install_db
#
# Note that step one is becoming the mysql user.  It's important to do this
# before making any changes to the database, or mysqld won't be able to write
# to it later (this can be fixed with 'chown -R mysql.mysql /var/lib/mysql').

# To allow outside connections to the database comment out the next line.
# If you don't need incoming network connections, then leave the line
# uncommented to improve system security.
#SKIP="--skip-networking"

# Start mysqld:
mysqld_start() {
  if [ -x /usr/bin/mysqld_safe ]; then
    # If there is an old PID file (no mysqld running), clean it up:
    if [ -r /var/run/mysql/mysql.pid ]; then
      if ! ps axc | grep mysqld 1> /dev/null 2> /dev/null ; then
        echo "Cleaning up old /var/run/mysql/mysql.pid."
        rm -f /var/run/mysql/mysql.pid
      fi
    fi
    /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --pid-file=/var/run/mysql/mysql.pid $SKIP &
  fi
}

# Stop mysqld:
mysqld_stop() {
  # If there is no PID file, ignore this request...
  if [ -r /var/run/mysql/mysql.pid ]; then
    killall mysqld
    # Wait at least one minute for it to exit, as we don't know how big the DB is...
    for second in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 \
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 60 ; do
      if [ ! -r /var/run/mysql/mysql.pid ]; then
        break;
      fi
      sleep 1
    done
    if [ "$second" = "60" ]; then
      echo "WARNING:  Gave up waiting for mysqld to exit!"
      sleep 15
    fi
  fi
}

# Restart mysqld:
mysqld_restart() {
  mysqld_stop
  mysqld_start
}

case "$1" in
'start')
  mysqld_start
  ;;
'stop')
  mysqld_stop
  ;;
'restart')
  mysqld_restart
  ;;
*)
  echo "usage $0 start|stop|restart"
esac

But there's also an unexpected init script on the machine, named /etc/init.d/mysql:

#!/bin/sh
# Copyright Abandoned 1996 TCX DataKonsult AB & Monty Program KB & Detron HB
# This file is public domain and comes with NO WARRANTY of any kind

# MySQL daemon start/stop script.

# Usually this is put in /etc/init.d (at least on machines SYSV R4 based
# systems) and linked to /etc/rc3.d/S99mysql and /etc/rc0.d/K01mysql.
# When this is done the mysql server will be started when the machine is
# started and shut down when the systems goes down.

# Comments to support chkconfig on RedHat Linux
# chkconfig: 2345 64 36
# description: A very fast and reliable SQL database engine.

# Comments to support LSB init script conventions
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: mysql
# Required-Start: $local_fs $network $remote_fs
# Should-Start: ypbind nscd ldap ntpd xntpd
# Required-Stop: $local_fs $network $remote_fs
# Default-Start:  2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: start and stop MySQL
# Description: MySQL is a very fast and reliable SQL database engine.
### END INIT INFO

# If you install MySQL on some other places than /usr, then you
# have to do one of the following things for this script to work:
#
# - Run this script from within the MySQL installation directory
# - Create a /etc/my.cnf file with the following information:
#   [mysqld]
#   basedir=<path-to-mysql-installation-directory>
# - Add the above to any other configuration file (for example ~/.my.ini)
#   and copy my_print_defaults to /usr/bin
# - Add the path to the mysql-installation-directory to the basedir variable
#   below.
#
# If you want to affect other MySQL variables, you should make your changes
# in the /etc/my.cnf, ~/.my.cnf or other MySQL configuration files.

# If you change base dir, you must also change datadir. These may get
# overwritten by settings in the MySQL configuration files.

#basedir=
#datadir=

# Default value, in seconds, afterwhich the script should timeout waiting
# for server start. 
# Value here is overriden by value in my.cnf. 
# 0 means don't wait at all
# Negative numbers mean to wait indefinitely
service_startup_timeout=900

# The following variables are only set for letting mysql.server find things.

# Set some defaults
pid_file=/var/run/mysql/mysql.pid
server_pid_file=/var/run/mysql/mysql.pid
use_mysqld_safe=1
user=mysql
if test -z "$basedir"
then
  basedir=/usr
  bindir=/usr/bin
  if test -z "$datadir"
  then
    datadir=/var/lib/mysql
  fi
  sbindir=/usr/sbin
  libexecdir=/usr/libexec
else
  bindir="$basedir/bin"
  if test -z "$datadir"
  then
    datadir="$basedir/data"
  fi
  sbindir="$basedir/sbin"
  libexecdir="$basedir/libexec"
fi

# datadir_set is used to determine if datadir was set (and so should be
# *not* set inside of the --basedir= handler.)
datadir_set=

#
# Use LSB init script functions for printing messages, if possible
#
lsb_functions="/lib/lsb/init-functions"
if test -f $lsb_functions ; then
  . $lsb_functions
else
  log_success_msg()
  {
    echo " SUCCESS! $@"
  }
  log_failure_msg()
  {
    echo " ERROR! $@"
  }
fi

PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:$basedir/bin
export PATH

mode=$1    # start or stop
shift
other_args="$*"   # uncommon, but needed when called from an RPM upgrade action
           # Expected: "--skip-networking --skip-grant-tables"
           # They are not checked here, intentionally, as it is the resposibility
           # of the "spec" file author to give correct arguments only.

case `echo "testing\c"`,`echo -n testing` in
    *c*,-n*) echo_n=   echo_c=     ;;
    *c*,*)   echo_n=-n echo_c=     ;;
    *)       echo_n=   echo_c='\c' ;;
esac

parse_server_arguments() {
  for arg do
    case "$arg" in
      --basedir=*)  basedir=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'`
                    bindir="$basedir/bin"
            if test -z "$datadir_set"; then
              datadir="$basedir/data"
            fi
            sbindir="$basedir/sbin"
            libexecdir="$basedir/libexec"
        ;;
      --datadir=*)  datadir=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'`
            datadir_set=1
    ;;
      --user=*)  user=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'` ;;
      --pid-file=*) server_pid_file=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'` ;;
      --service-startup-timeout=*) service_startup_timeout=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'` ;;
      --use-mysqld_safe) use_mysqld_safe=1;;
      --use-manager)     use_mysqld_safe=0;;
    esac
  done
}

parse_manager_arguments() {
  for arg do
    case "$arg" in
      --pid-file=*) pid_file=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'` ;;
      --user=*)  user=`echo "$arg" | sed -e 's/^[^=]*=//'` ;;
    esac
  done
}

wait_for_pid () {
  verb="$1"
  manager_pid="$2"  # process ID of the program operating on the pid-file
  i=0
  avoid_race_condition="by checking again"
  while test $i -ne $service_startup_timeout ; do

    case "$verb" in
      'created')
        # wait for a PID-file to pop into existence.
        test -s $pid_file && i='' && break
        ;;
      'removed')
        # wait for this PID-file to disappear
        test ! -s $pid_file && i='' && break
        ;;
      *)
        echo "wait_for_pid () usage: wait_for_pid created|removed manager_pid"
        exit 1
        ;;
    esac

    # if manager isn't running, then pid-file will never be updated
    if test -n "$manager_pid"; then
      if kill -0 "$manager_pid" 2>/dev/null; then
        :  # the manager still runs
      else
        # The manager may have exited between the last pid-file check and now.  
        if test -n "$avoid_race_condition"; then
          avoid_race_condition=""
          continue  # Check again.
        fi

        # there's nothing that will affect the file.
        log_failure_msg "Manager of pid-file quit without updating file."
        return 1  # not waiting any more.
      fi
    fi

    echo $echo_n ".$echo_c"
    i=`expr $i + 1`
    sleep 1
  done

  if test -z "$i" ; then
    log_success_msg
    return 0
  else
    log_failure_msg
    return 1
  fi
}

# Get arguments from the my.cnf file,
# the only group, which is read from now on is [mysqld]
if test -x ./bin/my_print_defaults
then
  print_defaults="./bin/my_print_defaults"
elif test -x $bindir/my_print_defaults
then
  print_defaults="$bindir/my_print_defaults"
elif test -x $bindir/mysql_print_defaults
then
  print_defaults="$bindir/mysql_print_defaults"
else
  # Try to find basedir in /etc/my.cnf
  conf=/etc/my.cnf
  print_defaults=
  if test -r $conf
  then
    subpat='^[^=]*basedir[^=]*=\(.*\)$'
    dirs=`sed -e "/$subpat/!d" -e 's//\1/' $conf`
    for d in $dirs
    do
      d=`echo $d | sed -e 's/[  ]//g'`
      if test -x "$d/bin/my_print_defaults"
      then
        print_defaults="$d/bin/my_print_defaults"
        break
      fi
      if test -x "$d/bin/mysql_print_defaults"
      then
        print_defaults="$d/bin/mysql_print_defaults"
        break
      fi
    done
  fi

  # Hope it's in the PATH ... but I doubt it
  test -z "$print_defaults" && print_defaults="my_print_defaults"
fi

#
# Read defaults file from 'basedir'.   If there is no defaults file there
# check if it's in the old (depricated) place (datadir) and read it from there
#

extra_args=""
if test -r "$basedir/my.cnf"
then
  extra_args="-e $basedir/my.cnf"
else
  if test -r "$datadir/my.cnf"
  then
    extra_args="-e $datadir/my.cnf"
  fi
fi

parse_server_arguments `$print_defaults $extra_args mysqld server mysql_server mysql.server`

# Look for the pidfile 
parse_manager_arguments `$print_defaults $extra_args manager`

#
# Set pid file if not given
#
if test -z "$pid_file"
then
  pid_file=$datadir/mysqlmanager-`/bin/hostname`.pid
else
  case "$pid_file" in
    /* ) ;;
    * )  pid_file="$datadir/$pid_file" ;;
  esac
fi
if test -z "$server_pid_file"
then
  server_pid_file=$datadir/`/bin/hostname`.pid
else
  case "$server_pid_file" in
    /* ) ;;
    * )  server_pid_file="$datadir/$server_pid_file" ;;
  esac
fi

case "$mode" in
  'start')
    # Start daemon

    # Safeguard (relative paths, core dumps..)
    cd $basedir

    manager=$bindir/mysqlmanager
    if test -x $libexecdir/mysqlmanager
    then
      manager=$libexecdir/mysqlmanager
    elif test -x $sbindir/mysqlmanager
    then
      manager=$sbindir/mysqlmanager
    fi

    echo $echo_n "Starting MySQL"
    if test -x $manager -a "$use_mysqld_safe" = "0"
    then
      if test -n "$other_args"
      then
        log_failure_msg "MySQL manager does not support options '$other_args'"
        exit 1
      fi
      # Give extra arguments to mysqld with the my.cnf file. This script may
      # be overwritten at next upgrade.
      $manager --user=$user --pid-file=$pid_file >/dev/null 2>&1 &
      wait_for_pid created $!; return_value=$?

      # Make lock for RedHat / SuSE
      if test -w /var/lock/subsys
      then
        touch /var/lock/subsys/mysqlmanager
      fi
      exit $return_value
    elif test -x $bindir/mysqld_safe
    then
      # Give extra arguments to mysqld with the my.cnf file. This script
      # may be overwritten at next upgrade.
      pid_file=$server_pid_file
      $bindir/mysqld_safe --datadir=$datadir --pid-file=$server_pid_file $other_args >/dev/null 2>&1 &
      wait_for_pid created $!; return_value=$?

      # Make lock for RedHat / SuSE
      if test -w /var/lock/subsys
      then
        touch /var/lock/subsys/mysql
      fi
      exit $return_value
    else
      log_failure_msg "Couldn't find MySQL manager ($manager) or server ($bindir/mysqld_safe)"
    fi
    ;;

  'stop')
    # Stop daemon. We use a signal here to avoid having to know the
    # root password.

    # The RedHat / SuSE lock directory to remove
    lock_dir=/var/lock/subsys/mysqlmanager

    # If the manager pid_file doesn't exist, try the server's
    if test ! -s "$pid_file"
    then
      pid_file=$server_pid_file
      lock_dir=/var/lock/subsys/mysql
    fi

    if test -s "$pid_file"
    then
      mysqlmanager_pid=`cat $pid_file`
      echo $echo_n "Shutting down MySQL"
      kill $mysqlmanager_pid
      # mysqlmanager should remove the pid_file when it exits, so wait for it.
      wait_for_pid removed "$mysqlmanager_pid"; return_value=$?

      # delete lock for RedHat / SuSE
      if test -f $lock_dir
      then
        rm -f $lock_dir
      fi
      exit $return_value
    else
      log_failure_msg "MySQL manager or server PID file could not be found!"
    fi
    ;;

  'restart')
    # Stop the service and regardless of whether it was
    # running or not, start it again.
    if $0 stop  $other_args; then
      $0 start $other_args
    else
      log_failure_msg "Failed to stop running server, so refusing to try to start."
      exit 1
    fi
    ;;

  'reload'|'force-reload')
    if test -s "$server_pid_file" ; then
      read mysqld_pid <  $server_pid_file
      kill -HUP $mysqld_pid && log_success_msg "Reloading service MySQL"
      touch $server_pid_file
    else
      log_failure_msg "MySQL PID file could not be found!"
      exit 1
    fi
    ;;
  'status')
    # First, check to see if pid file exists
    if test -s "$server_pid_file" ; then 
      read mysqld_pid < $server_pid_file
      if kill -0 $mysqld_pid 2>/dev/null ; then 
        log_success_msg "MySQL running ($mysqld_pid)"
        exit 0
      else
        log_failure_msg "MySQL is not running, but PID file exists"
        exit 1
      fi
    else
      # Try to find appropriate mysqld process
      mysqld_pid=`pidof $sbindir/mysqld`
      if test -z $mysqld_pid ; then 
        if test "$use_mysqld_safe" = "0" ; then 
          lockfile=/var/lock/subsys/mysqlmanager
        else
          lockfile=/var/lock/subsys/mysql
        fi 
        if test -f $lockfile ; then 
          log_failure_msg "MySQL is not running, but lock exists"
          exit 2
        fi 
        log_failure_msg "MySQL is not running"
        exit 3
      else
        log_failure_msg "MySQL is running but PID file could not be found"
        exit 4
      fi
    fi
    ;;
    *)
      # usage
      echo "Usage: $0  {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload|status}  [ MySQL server options ]"
      exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0

An unimportant aside: The previous users of the machine kept a messy home directory. Their home directory was /root. I've pasted a copy at http://www.pastebin.ca/2167496.

My question:

What's your best guess as to why there's a /etc/init.d/mysql file on this Slackware machine? How could the file have gotten there?

P.S. This question is far from perfect. Please feel free to edit it.

3
  • 1
    How can we possibly know what was the intention of previous admins ?
    – user9517
    Jul 6, 2012 at 21:24
  • @Iain: Thank you for your comment. You just inspired me to edit the question -- to make clear that I want guesses, not absolute factual answers.
    – jasonspiro
    Jul 6, 2012 at 21:31
  • Please read the FAQ, paying particular attention to the types of questions that should and should not be asked here. Jul 7, 2012 at 1:27

2 Answers 2

4

Your question is impossible to answer. Perhaps the previous admin installed the MySQL with some other way than the official one? Perhaps he just googled for the init script and manually copied it to /etc/init.d?

There's no way to know what happened, unless you have some kind of audit logs.

0

As far as I know all daemons have own file in /etc/init.d. Basically all files which are there starts with boot and stops with shutdown.

1

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