In case of Mac OS X Maverick when MySQL is installed via Homebrew it's located at /usr/local/opt/mysql/my.cnf

In general, on Unix and Unix-like systems, MySQL/MariaDB programs read config/startup files in the following locations (in the specified order):

• /etc/my.cnf - Global
• /etc/mysql/my.cnf - Global

• SYSCONFDIR/my.cnf - Global

  SYSCONFDIR represents the directory specified with the SYSCONFDIR option to CMake when MySQL was built. By default, this is the etc directory located under the compiled-in installation directory.

• $MYSQL_HOME/my.cnf - Server-specific (server only)

  MYSQL_HOME is an environment variable containing the path to the directory in which the server-specific my.cnf file resides. If MYSQL_HOME is not set and you start the server using the mysqld_safe program, mysqld_safe sets it to BASEDIR, the MySQL base installation directory.

• file specified with --defaults-extra-file=path if any

• ~/.my.cnf - User-specific
• ~/.mylogin.cnf - User-specific (clients only)

^{Source: Using Option Files.}

Note: On Unix platforms, MySQL ignores configuration files that are world-writable. This is intentional as a security measure.

Additionally on Mac there is a simple way to check it.

1. Run: sudo fs_usage | grep my.cnf

   ^{This will report any filesystem activity in real-time related to that file.}

2. In another Terminal, restart your MySQL/MariaDB, e.g.

   brew services restart mysql 

   or:

   brew services restart mariadb 

3. On terminal with fs_usage, the proper location should be shown, e.g.

   15:52:22 access /usr/local/Cellar/mariadb/10.1.14/my.cnf 0.000002 sh 

   So if the file doesn't exist, create one.

If you are using macOS Sierra and the file doesn't exists, run

mysql --help or mysql --help | grep my.cnf

to see the possible locations and loading/reading sequence of my.cnf for mysql then create my.cnf file in one of the suggested directories then add the following line

[mysqld] sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

You can sudo touch /{preferred-path}/my.cnf then edit the file to add sql mode by

sudo nano /{preferred-path}/my.cnf

Then restart MySQL.

I don't know which version of MySQL you're using, but here are possible locations of the my.cnf file for version 5.5 (taken from here) on Mac OS X:

1. /etc/my.cnf
2. /etc/mysql/my.cnf
3. SYSCONFDIR/my.cnf
4. $MYSQL_HOME/my.cnf
5. defaults-extra-file (the file specified with --defaults-extra-file=path, if any)
6. ~/.my.cnf

For MySQL 5.7 on Mac OS X El Capitan: /usr/local/mysql/etc/my.cnf

Copy default conf from /usr/local/mysql/support-files/my-default.cnf

I'm running MacOS Catalina(10.15.3) and find my.cnf in /usr/local/etc.

macOS sierra 10.12.6
MySQL version : 5.7.18_1
I run locate my.cnf and the path is

/usr/local/etc/my.cnf

The current MySQL package for Mac OS X Mavericks (mysql-5.6.17-osx10.7-x86_64 at the time of this writing) automatically creates a my.cnf during installation.

It is located at /usr/local/mysql-5.6.17-osx10.7-x86_64/my.cnf
Adapt your path according to your version.

You can create your file under any directory you want. After creation, you can "tell" the path to mysql config:

So none of these things worked for me. I am using the current dmg install of mysql community server. ps shows that all of the most critical parameters normally in my.cnf are passed on the command line, and I couldn't figure out where that was coming from. After doing a full text search of my box I found it in:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.oss.mysql.mysqld.plist

So you can either change them there, or take them out so it will actually respect the ones you have in your my.cnf wherever you decided to put it.

Enjoy!

Example of the file info found in that file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>com.oracle.oss.mysql.mysqld</string> <key>ProcessType</key> <string>Interactive</string> <key>Disabled</key> <false/> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>KeepAlive</key> <true/> <key>SessionCreate</key> <true/> <key>LaunchOnlyOnce</key> <false/> <key>UserName</key> <string>_mysql</string> <key>GroupName</key> <string>_mysql</string> <key>ExitTimeOut</key> <integer>600</integer> <key>Program</key> <string>/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld</string> <string>--user=_mysql</string> <string>--basedir=/usr/local/mysql</string> <string>--datadir=/usr/local/mysql/data</string> <string>--plugin-dir=/usr/local/mysql/lib/plugin</string> <string>--log-error=/usr/local/mysql/data/mysqld.local.err</string> <string>--pid-file=/usr/local/mysql/data/mysqld.local.pid</string> <string>--keyring-file-data=/usr/local/mysql/keyring/keyring</string> <string>--early-plugin-load=keyring_file=keyring_file.so</string> </array> <key>WorkingDirectory</key> <string>/usr/local/mysql</string> </dict> </plist> 

You can open a terminal and type locate my.cnf

In mysql 5.6.22, which I installed it from Homebrew, the path of my.cnf is

/usr/local/opt/mysql/my.cnf 

Open Terminal and use below command:

sudo find / -name my.cnf 

In case of installing MySQL with Homebrew in Mac M1 with MacOS Monterey 12.0.1 the location is /opt/homebrew/etc/my.cnf

macOS 13 and MySQL 8 current if installed directly from the MySQL Installer from Oracle:

By default, no my.cnf will be created. To get a default one created easily without needing to use any Terminal commands, here is how:

1. Open MySQL Workbench on your Mac. Connect into your localhost instance of MySQL.

2. Click the little wrench icon next to INSTANCE on the left pane above Startup / Shutdown.

3. Select macOS as System Type, macOS as Installation Type, and the rest will default into place. Copy the location it gives you for the my.cnf file.

4. Click Close

5. Now click Options File on the left. It will notice that you don't have a file and will show you default values.

6. Click the Apply... in the bottom right corner.

7. It will then ask you for a password of your current logged in user of your Mac to create and save the my.cnf file.

8. Now in the Finder use the keyboard combo of Command-Shift-G and copy in your location we copied earlier (i.e. /etc/my.cnf)

You can check the file

/usr/local/bin/mysql.server and see from where my.conf is being read from.

Usually it is from /etc/my.cnf or ~/my.cnf or ~/.my.cnf

READ THE DOCS!

The MySQL Documents for which version you are using will help. It is usually described as a Options File or MySQL Config File.
The docs have the location of these files in the documentation, As well as other VITAL information like the location & small examples of what the config file must look like.

MySQL Version 8

MySQL Version 5.7

MySQL Version 5.6

MySQL Version 5.5

MySQL Version 5.6 Japanese

Important Notes:

On Unix platforms, MySQL ignores configuration files that are world-writable.

This is intentional as a security measure.

In other words, if you have the wrong permissions set on your config file the will NOT load.

Example of initial setup permission of one of the config files:

RIZZOMBP$ ls -lah /etc/my.cnf -rw-r--r-- 1 myusername wheel 0B Feb 25 20:40 /etc/my.cnf 

Note:

It is possible to use !include directives in option files to include other option files and !includedir to search specific directories for option files.....

...MySQL makes no guarantee about the order in which option files in the directory will be read...

Any files to be found and included using the !includedir directive on Unix operating systems must have file names ending in .cnf. On Windows, this directive checks for files with the .ini or .cnf extension.

Examples of how to find your location of your config or log files ect.:

SQL

This will not show you the config file but will help you locate your installation files/folders.

MySQL Version 5.7 & 8+

SELECT * FROM PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA.GLOBAL_VARIABLES WHERE VARIABLE_VALUE LIKE '%\/%'; 

MySQL Version <= 5.6

SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.GLOBAL_VARIABLES WHERE VARIABLE_VALUE LIKE '%\/%'; 

SHELL/Terminal

RIZZOMBP$ mysql --help | grep "Default options" -A 1 Default options are read from the following files in the given order: /etc/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf /usr/local/mysql/etc/my.cnf ~/.my.cnf 

Above Command Credit To: Erwin Mayer from ServerFault

RIZZOMBP$ mysqld --verbose --help | grep '/my.cnf' -B 1 Default options are read from the following files in the given order: /etc/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf /usr/local/mysql/etc/my.cnf ~/.my.cnf 

OR

RIZZOMBP$ ps aux | grep -i mysqld | grep -v $USER _mysql 106 0.4 2.5 4232336 422112 ?? Ss 7:01PM 0:57.12 /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld --user=_mysql --basedir=/usr/local/mysql --datadir=/usr/local/mysql/data --plugin-dir=/usr/local/mysql/lib/plugin --log-error=/usr/local/mysql/data/mysqld.local.err --pid-file=/usr/local/mysql/data/mysqld.local.pid --keyring-file-data=/usr/local/mysql/keyring/keyring --early-plugin-load=keyring_file=keyring_file.so 

Sample File

Should you need a detailed Reference Sample my.cnf:

1. https://gist.github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=my.cnf+mysql&ref=searchresults
2. https://www.linode.com/community/questions/5749/mysql-sample-config-files
3. https://www.fromdual.com/mysql-configuration-file-sample

No affiliation/association to the URL's

My System:

RIZZOMBP$ sw_vers ProductName: Mac OS X ProductVersion: 10.14.3 BuildVersion: 18D109 

RIZZOMBP$ mysql -V mysql Ver 8.0.15 for macos10.14 on x86_64 (MySQL Community Server - GPL) 

RIZZOMBP$ mysqld -V /usr/local/mysql-8.0.15-macos10.14-x86_64/bin/mysqld Ver 8.0.15 for macos10.14 on x86_64 (MySQL Community Server - GPL) 

For MAMP 3.5 Mac El Capitan, create a separate empty config file and write your additional settings for mysql

sudo vim /Applications/MAMP/Library/my.cnf 

And Add like this

[mysqld] max_allowed_packet = 256M 

macOS High Sierra version 10.13.6

mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.7.22, for osx10.13 (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved

Default options are read from the following files in the given order:

/etc/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf /usr/local/etc/my.cnf ~/.my.cnf 

it should be usually under /usr/local/etc on mac if you do not find it you can create one

/private/etc/my.cnf for Catalina

a quick way to figure out on MAC OS was the following:

sudo find /usr/ -type f -iname "*my.cnf*" 

or

brew list [email protected] |grep -i my.cnf 

Greetings

I checked in macOS Sierra, the homebrew installed MySql 5.7.12

The support files are located at

/usr/local/opt/mysql/support-files 

Just copy my-default.cnf as /etc/my.cnf or /etc/mysql/my.cnf and the configuration will be picked up on restart.

I am using mysql version 5.7.17 in macOS High Sierra version 10.13.3 and I have found the mysql config file here.

cd /usr/local/mysql/support-files/my-default.cnf 

For mysql 8.0.19, I finally found the my.cnf here: /usr/local/opt/mysql/.bottle/etc I copied it to /usr/local/opt/mysql/ and modified it. Then I restart the mysql service, it works.

For Mac , what worked for me is creating a .my.cnf file in my ~ path. Hope this helps.

Copy /usr/local/opt/mysql/support-files/my-default.cnf as /etc/my.cnf or /etc/mysql/my.cnf and then restart mysql.

For me in sierra version

copy the default configuration at:

/usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.6.27/support-files/my-default.cnf

to

/usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.6.27/my.cnf

In my case, the file did not exist. In MySQL Workbench I went to OPTIONS FILE and found some default values. I clicked apply. It asked for permission. It then created the my.cnf file under /etc. However, it is very important to keep in mind that the first time you click "apply", you do not make any changes to the default configuration. Once the file has been created, you can make changes which will be applied when you click "apply". Otherwise you will not be shown the apply button when you make changes.