mysql: set default charset to utf8

Question

In an effort to set the default charset for a MySQL server to utf8, I've added the following options to my.ini

character-set-server=utf8
default-collation=utf8_unicode_ci

But when I start the mysql client, I get the following error message:

error: Found option without preceding group in config file: C:\dev\tools\mysql\my.ini at line: 2 Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted

Does anyone know what the right way to set the default charset in this config file is?

Thanks, Don

Answer 1

The problem the server complains about is that it can't find the expected INI section ([mysqld]) to which these settings belong. Ensure you've added those settings to the [mysqld] section, like this:

[mysqld]
character-set-server=utf8
default-collation=utf8_unicode_ci

If there's already such a section there, add your settings to to that section, don't create a duplicate section.

After altering the configuration file, restart the MySQL server.