4.1 mcmd, the MySQL Cluster Manager Agent

mcmd is the MySQL Cluster Manager agent program. Invoking this executable starts the MySQL Cluster Manager Agent, to which you can connect using the mcm client (see Section 4.3, “Starting the MySQL Cluster Manager Client” and Chapter 5, MySQL Cluster Manager Client Commands for more information).

You can modify the behavior of the agent by specifying one or more of the options discussed in this section. Depending on the option of interest, there are up to three ways to set it:

Include the option directly on the command line when invoking mcmd. This can be done for all options that has Yes under the Cmd-Line column in Table 4.1 MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (mcmd) Option Summary. Some options can only be specified by this method on the command line (for example, --config and --bootstrap).
When specifying an agent configuration option on the command line using this method, the name of the option is prefixed with two leading dash characters (--); for example, --mcmd-user=johndoe. See the Command-Line Format for each option given in the option description table.
Include the option in the agent configuration file. This can be done for all options that has Yes under the Option File column in Table 4.1 MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (mcmd) Option Summary. These rules apply:
- The name of the option should not be prefixed with dashes, or any other characters.
- Any hyphens in the option names should be changed to underscores.
- The format of the configuration file follows that of the MySQL Router configuration file; see Configuration File Syntax for an explanation of the file format. An option must be specified in the correct section in the configuration file; see Table 4.1, “MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (mcmd) Option Summary” for which section each option belongs to.
- Each option must be specified on a separate line. You can comment out a line by inserting a leading hash character (#).
Any options configurable in the configuration file (i.e., by method 2 above), with the exception of mcmd_password, can be set or overridden at the mcmd command line by specifying the option in the format of --section_name.option=value, where section_name is name of the section in the configuration file that the option belongs to. For example, --mcmd.bind_port=12345 and --logger.level=DEBUG.

The following table contains a summary of agent options that are read on startup by mcmd. More detailed information about each of these options can be found in the option descriptions.

Table 4.1 MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (mcmd) Option Summary

Name	Cmd-Line	Option File	Configuration File Section
bind_address	-	Yes	`mcmd`
bind-port	-	Yes	`mcmd`
bootstrap	Yes	-	-
config	Yes	-	-
copy-port	-	Yes	`mcmd`
core-file	Yes	-	-
data-folder	Yes	Yes	`DEFAULT`
extra-config	Yes	-	-
filename	-	Yes	`logger`, `syslog`, `filelog`, `eventlog`
help	Yes	-	-
initial	Yes	-	-
level	-	Yes	`logger`
logging_folder	-	Yes	`DEFAULT`
max_total_connections	-	Yes	`DEFAULT`
mcmd_password	-	Yes	`mcmd`
mcmd-user	-	Yes	`mcmd`
pid-file	Yes	Yes	`DEFAULT`
sinks	-	Yes	`DEFAULT`
ssl_ca	-	Yes	`mcmd`
ssl_cert	-	Yes	`mcmd`
ssl_cipher	-	Yes	`mcmd`
ssl_key	-	Yes	`mcmd`
ssl_mode	-	Yes	`mcmd`
unknown_config_option	-	Yes	`DEFAULT`
version	Yes	-	-
xcom-port	-	Yes	`mcmd`

MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (`mcmd`) Option Descriptions

The following list contains descriptions of each configuration option available for use with mcmd, including allowed and default values. Options with their Type unmentioned need only be specified in order to take effect— you should not try to set a value for them.

bind_address
Type String
Default Value 127.0.0.1
Specify the address for MySQL Cluster Manager client connections. Binding to a specific IPv4 or IPv6 address ensures that mcmd is not starting on a network interface controller (NIC) on which nothing is allowed to execute.
It is not possible to specify more than one bind address. Using :: binds all network interfaces (IPs) on the host.
When set in the configuration file, the option should be put inside the [mcmd] section.
bind-port=#
Type Numeric
Default Value 1862
Minimum Value 1
Maximum Value 65535
Specify the port used by MySQL Cluster Manager client connections. Any valid TC/IP port number can be used. Normally, there is no need to change it from the default value (1862).
--bootstrap, -B
Command-Line Format --bootstrap
Start the agent with default configuration values, create a default one-machine cluster named mycluster in a site named mysite, and start it. This option works only if no sites have been created yet.
--config=filename, -c
Command-Line Format --config=file_name
Type File name
Default Value mcmd.conf, in the MCM installation directory
Set the file from which to read configuration options. mcmd.conf in the installation directory of MySQL Cluster Manager is the first default location mcmd looks for the file. See Section 3.4, “MySQL Cluster Manager Configuration File” for more information.
copy-port
Type Numeric
Default Value 0
Minimum Value 0
Maximum Value 65535
Allows you to specify the port for file copy operations. The default is 0.
--core-file
Command-Line Format --core-file[=value]
Type Boolean
Default Value 1
Valid Values
1 (Write a core file)
0 (Do not write a core file)

Write a core file to the location where mcmd was started (or to another core dump location as specified by the operating system) when mcmd quits unexpectedly. The default value is 1.
--data-folder=dir_name, -d dir_name
Command-Line Format --data-folder=dir_name
Type Directory name
Default Value mcm_data in the parent directory of the MCM installation directory
Set the location of the agent repository, which contains collections of MySQL Cluster Manager data files and MySQL NDB Cluster configuration and data files. The value must be a valid absolute path.
The default location is mcm_data in the parent directory of the MySQL Cluster Manager installation directory. If you change the default, you should use a standard location external to the MySQL Cluster Manager installation directory, such as /var/opt/mcm on Linux.
In addition to the data files for all the clusters under the control of MySQL Cluster Manager, the data-folder also contains a rep directory in which mcmd configuration and metadata are kept. Normally, there is no need to interact with these directories beyond specifying the --data-folder option; see exceptions in, for example, Section 4.8, “Restoring a MySQL Cluster Manager Agent with Data from Other Agents” and Section 4.7, “Backing Up and Restoring MySQL Cluster Manager Agents”.
--extra-config=filename , -a
Command-Line Format --extra-config=file_name
Type File name
Read this file after configuration files are read from either default locations or from the location specified by the --config option. Multiple --extra-config options can be passed, and the files are loaded in the order they are specified.
filename=filename
Type File name
Default Value mcmd.log
Set the name of the file to write the log to. The default is mcmd.log, located in the same directory where the MySQL Cluster Manager installation directory is found. The location of this file can be overridden with the logging_folder option.

Type	String
Default Value	`127.0.0.1`

Type	Numeric
Default Value	`1862`
Minimum Value	`1`
Maximum Value	`65535`

Command-Line Format	`--bootstrap`

Command-Line Format	`--config=file_name`
Type	File name
Default Value	`mcmd.conf, in the MCM installation directory`

Type	Numeric
Default Value	`0`
Minimum Value	`0`
Maximum Value	`65535`

Command-Line Format	`--core-file[=value]`
Type	Boolean
Default Value	`1`
Valid Values	`1` (Write a core file) `0` (Do not write a core file)

Command-Line Format	`--data-folder=dir_name`
Type	Directory name
Default Value	`mcm_data in the parent directory of the MCM installation directory`

Command-Line Format	`--extra-config=file_name`
Type	File name

Type	File name
Default Value	`mcmd.log`

--help, -?

Command-Line Format	`--help`

mcmd help output provides information on some file paths and all the program options; it also provides some usage examples of the mcmd command:

$> mcmd --help
MySQL Cluster Manager  v9.3.0 on linux-glibc2.17 (64-bit) (MySQL Enterprise - Commercial)
Copyright (c) 2007, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates.


Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Configuration read from the following files in the given order (enclosed
in parentheses means not available for reading):
  (/opt/mcm9.3.0/bin/.././mcmd.conf)
  (/opt/mcm9.3.0/bin/.././mcmd.ini)
  (/home/johndoe/.mcmd.conf)
  (/home/johndoe/.mcmd.ini)
Plugins Path:
  /opt/mcm9.3.0/lib/mysqlrouter

Default Log Directory:
  /opt

Default Persistent Data Directory:
  /opt/mcm_data

Default Runtime State Directory:
  /opt


# Usage

mcmd (-?|--help)

mcmd (-V|--version)

mcmd [-B|--bootstrap] [-c|--config=<path>] [--core-file=[<0|1>]]
     [-d|--data-folder=<directory>] [-a|--extra-config=<path>]
     [-i|--initial] [--pid-file=<pidfile>]

mcmd [--bind-port=<portnumber>] [--copy-port=<portnumber>]
     [--mcmd-user=<username>] [--xcom-port=<portnumber>]

# Options

  -B, --bootstrap
        Bootstrap a MySQL Cluster using MySQL Cluster Manager
  -c <path>, --config <path>
        Only read configuration from given file.
  --core-file [ <0|1>]
        Write a core file if mcmd dies.
  -d <directory>, --data-folder <directory>
        Data directory for MySQL Cluster Manager.
  -a <path>, --extra-config <path>
        Read this file after configuration files are read from either
        default locations or from files specified by the --config
        option.
  -?, --help
        Display this help and exit.
  -i, --initial
        Reinitialize configuration metadata directory
  --pid-file <pidfile>
        Path and filename of pid file
  -V, --version
        Display version information and exit.
  --bind-port <portnumber>
        Portnumber to use for mcmd. [DEPRECATED]
  --copy-port <portnumber>
        Portnumber to use for file copying. [DEPRECATED]
  --mcmd-user <username>
        The username used to access MySQL Cluster Manager [DEPRECATED]
  --xcom-port <portnumber>
        Portnumber to use for XCOM. [DEPRECATED]

# Examples

Bootstrap a NDB cluster on localhost

    mcmd --bootstrap 

Bootstrap a NDB cluster with a specified mcm_data directory

    mcmd --bootstrap -d my_mcm_data

Start mcmd with additional config file options on cmdline

    mcmd --logger.level=NOTE --mcmd.copy_port=12345

--initial, -i
Command-Line Format --initial
After making a backup of the agent's configuration store (mcm_data/rep/) like the backup agents command would do for the local host, wipe the configuration store's contents before starting mcmd. The agent's configuration is then recovered from other agents. This is useful when an agent has fallen into an inconsistent state and cannot be properly restarted.

Command-Line Format	`--initial`

level=level

Type Enumeration

Default Value info

Valid Values

Type	Enumeration
Default Value	`info`
Valid Values	`fatal` `system` `error` `warning` `info` `note` `debug`

fatal

system

error

warning

info

note

debug

Sets the mcmd log severity level. Possible values for this option and their descriptions are listed in Table 4.2, “MySQL Cluster Manager Agent Log Levels” in descending level of severity. When the option is set to a certain severity level, all events of that or higher levels are logged. info is the default log level, and is the recommended setting for a production environment; running on a more severe log level produces fewer messages and makes it harder to trace a problem when it occurs.

Table 4.2 MySQL Cluster Manager Agent Log Levels

Level of Severity	Description
`fatal`	Conditions that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted MySQL Cluster Manager data repository
`system`	Informational messages about the product
`error`	Conditions that should be corrected, such as configuration errors
`warning`	Conditions that do not fail executions, but may require user attention
`info`	Messages on main events of the site and from command execution (default)
`note`	Informational messages to provide users with some execution details
`debug`	Debugging messages that give execution details useful for developers. This causes large log files if used over a long period of time.

While the setting of the level option is applied only to the host whose mcmd agent uses the option, the change log-level client command can be used to apply the logging level to an entire management site or to specific hosts.

logging_folder=dir_name
Type Directory name
Default Value The parent directory of the MCM installation directory
Path to the mcmd log file directory. The default is the parent directory of the MySQL Cluster Manager installation directory.
max_total_connections
Type Integer
Default Value 512
Minimum Value 1
Maximum Value 9223372036854775807
The maximum number of client connections to mcmd. Setting this option helps prevent mcmd from running out of file descriptors. This is similar to MySQL Server's max_connections system variable.
The default value is 512, and the option is set in the [DEFAULT] section of the configuration file.
mcmd_password=password
The option serves the following two purposes:
- Sets the user password for an mcm client to connect to the mcmd agent with the user name set by --mcmd-user. The client must supply the same value using the --password client option when trying to connect to the agent.
- Sets a password for the MySQL account to be used by the mcmd agent to access the SQL nodes. When an SQL node is initialized, the mcmd agent creates a new MySQL user account on it using the user name set by the --mcmd-user option and the password set by this option. See descriptions of --mcmd-user for more details about the account.
- When using TLS connections for NDB clusters, the password is also used as the certificate passphrase. If you changed the password, you must also update manually the certificate passphrase, or the TLS connections will fail. Alternatively, if the situation allows, you can disable TLS connections for the cluster, recreate the certificates, and then reanable TLS connections.
The option can only be set in the [mcmd] section of configuration file, not on the command line.
For release 9.3.0 and later: The option must be specified, including for bootstrapping, or mcmd will fail to start.
For release 9.2.0 and earlier: If the option is not specified, the default value of super is used.
mcmd-user=user_name
The option serves the following two purposes:
- Sets the user name for an mcm client to connect to the mcmd agent. If the option is not specified, the default value of mcmd is used. If the option is specified with another value, the client must supply it using the --user client option when trying to connect to the agent.
  The password for using this user name to connect to the agent is set with the mcmd_password option.
- Sets a user name for the MySQL account to be used by the mcmd agent to access the SQL nodes. When an SQL node is initialized, the mcmd agent creates a new MySQL user account on it using the user name set by the option and the password set by the mcmd_password option. This account is created with all privileges on the MySQL server including the granting of privileges. In other words, it is created as if you had executed GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* ... WITH GRANT OPTION in the mysql client. The existing MySQL root account is not altered in such cases, and the default test database is preserved.
If the option is not specified, the default value of mcmd is used.
--pid-file=file
Command-Line Format --pid-file=file_name
Type File name
Default Value mcmd.pid
Set the name and path to a process ID (.pid) file. Not normally used or needed. This option is not supported on Windows systems.
sinks
Type String
Valid Values (Windows)
consolelog
filelog
eventlog

Valid Values (Other)
consolelog
filelog
syslog

The different logging methods used by mcmd.
Supported sink values are: consolelog, filelog, eventlog (on Windows only), and syslog (on Unix-based systems only). Use a comma-separated list to define multiple values. If you have multiple sinks defined, they can be customized under the corresponding sections of [syslog], [filelog], and [eventlog] in the configuration file using the filename and level options.
Default value: filelog if the logging_folder option is not empty in the [DEFAULT] section, and consolelog otherwise.
ssl_ca
Type File name
Default Value NULL
The path name of the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate file in PEM format. The file contains a list of trusted SSL Certificate Authorities.
ssl_cert
Type File name
Default Value NULL
The path name of the SSL public key certificate file in PEM format.
If ssl_cert is set to a certificate that uses any restricted cipher or cipher category, mcmd starts with support for encrypted connections disabled. For information about cipher restrictions, see Connection Cipher Configuration.
ssl_cipher
Type String
Default Value NULL
The list of permissible encryption ciphers for connections that use TLS protocol TLSv1.2. If no cipher in the list is supported, encrypted connections that use these TLS protocols do not work.
For greatest portability, the cipher list should be a list of one or more cipher names, separated by colons. The following example shows two cipher names separated by a colon:
```
[mcmd]
ssl_cipher="DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES128-SHA"
```
OpenSSL supports the syntax for specifying ciphers described in the OpenSSL documentation at https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/man1/ciphers.html.
For information about which encryption ciphers MySQL supports, see Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers.
ssl_key
Type File name
Default Value NULL
The path name of the server SSL private key file in PEM format. For better security, use a certificate with an RSA key size of at least 2048 bits.
ssl_mode
Type Enumeration
Default Value PREFERRED
Valid Values
DISABLED
REQUIRED
PREFERRED

ssl_mode sets the security state of the connections. The possible values are as follows:
DISABLED
Establish an unencrypted connection (the default if certificate and key have not been set).
REQUIRED
Establish a secure connection if the secure connections are supported by the target of connection.
PREFERRED
Establish an encrypted connection if the target of connection supports encrypted connections, falling back to an unencrypted connection if an encrypted connection cannot be established. This is the default if ssl_mode is not specified.
unknown_config_option=string
Type String
Default Value error
Valid Values
error
warning

Determines the behavior for handling unknown configuration options, such as those containing typos. Here are the values this option takes:
- error (default): mcmd returns an error when an unknown option is encountered
- warning: mcmd prints a warning when an unknown option is encountered and continues with starting
MySQL Cluster Manager versions before 8.0.29 ignore any unknown configuration options.
--version, -V
Command-Line Format --version
Display version information and exit. Output may vary according to the MySQL Cluster Manager software version, operating platform, and versions of libraries used on your system, but should closely resemble what is shown here, with the first line of output containing the MySQL Cluster Manager release number:
```
$> mcmd  --version
MySQL Cluster Manager  v9.3.0 on linux-glibc2.17 (64-bit) (MySQL Enterprise - Commercial)
```
xcom-port
Type Numeric
Default Value 18620
Minimum Value 1
Maximum Value 65535
Specify the XCOM port. The default in 18620.

Type	Integer
Default Value	`512`
Minimum Value	`1`
Maximum Value	`9223372036854775807`

Command-Line Format	`--pid-file=file_name`
Type	File name
Default Value	`mcmd.pid`

4.1 mcmd, the MySQL Cluster Manager Agent

MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (mcmd) Option Descriptions

MySQL Cluster Manager Agent (`mcmd`) Option Descriptions