Command Options for Connecting to the Server • --default-auth= plugin • --host= host_name ,  -h  host_name • --password[= pass_val ] ,  -p[ pass_val ] • --pipe ,  -W • --plugin-dir= dir_name • --port= port_num ,  -P  port_num • --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY} 357 To force TCP/IP transport to be used instead, specify a  --protocol  option: mysql --host=localhost This option explicitly specifies which transport protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when other connection parameters normally result in use of a protocol other than the one you want. For example, connections on Unix to  localhost  are made using a Unix socket file by default: For TCP/IP connections, the port number to use. The default port number is 3306. The directory in which to look for plugins. Specify this option if the  --default-auth  option is used to specify an authentication plugin but the client program does not find it. See Section 6.2.17, “Pluggable Authentication” . On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option applies only if the server was started with the  named_pipe  system variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by the named_pipe_full_access_group  system variable. To explicitly specify that there is no password and that the client program should not prompt for one, use the  --skip-password  option. Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an option file. See Section 6.1.2.1, “End-User Guidelines for Password Security” . The password of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The password value is optional. If not given, the program prompts for one. If given, there must be  no space  between  --password=  or  - p  and the password following it. If no password option is specified, the default is to send no password. The host on which the MySQL server is running. The value can be a host name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address. The default value is  localhost . A hint about which client-side authentication plugin to use. See Section 6.2.17, “Pluggable Authentication” . Option Name Description --shared-memory-base-name Shared-memory name for shared-memory connections (Windows only) --socket Unix socket file or Windows named pipe to use --user MySQL user name to use when connecting to server