MySQL Enterprise Audit The base name and suffix of the file to which the audit log plugin writes events. The default value is audit.log , regardless of logging format. To have the name suffix correspond to the format, set the name explicitly, choosing a different suffix (for example,  audit.xml  for XML format,  audit.json  for JSON format). If the value of  audit_log_file  is a relative path name, the plugin interprets it relative to the data directory. If the value is a full path name, the plugin uses the value as is. A full path name may be useful if it is desirable to locate audit files on a separate file system or directory. For security reasons, write the audit log file to a directory accessible only to the MySQL server and to users with a legitimate reason to view the log. For details about how the audit log plugin interprets the  audit_log_file  value and the rules for file renaming that occurs at plugin initialization and termination, see Naming Conventions for Audit Log Files. The audit log plugin uses the directory containing the audit log file (determined from the audit_log_file  value) as the location to search for readable audit log files. From these log files and the current file, the plugin constructs a list of the ones that are subject to use with the audit log bookmarking and reading functions. See Section 6.4.5.6, “Reading Audit Log Files” . System Variable audit_log_file Scope Global Dynamic No SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type File name Default Value audit.log System Variable audit_log_filter_id Scope Global, Session Dynamic No SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type Integer System Variable audit_log_flush Scope Global Dynamic Yes SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type Boolean Default Value OFF If  audit_log_rotate_on_size  is 0, automatic audit log file rotation is disabled and rotation occurs only when performed manually. In that case, enabling  audit_log_flush  by setting it to 1 or  ON  causes the audit log plugin to close and reopen its log file to flush it. (The variable value remains  OFF  so that you 1533 • audit_log_flush • audit_log_filter_id The session value of this variable indicates the internally maintained ID of the audit filter for the current session. A value of 0 means that the session has no filter assigned.