I can't seem to find the my.cnf or other config file for the MySQL that comes with MAMP. Does it not include one?
6 Answers
The MySQL server of MAMP (not PRO) will be started without any my.cnf file. But you can create your own my.cnf file.
- Stop servers
- Create a
my.cnf
file in/Applications/MAMP/conf/
- Add your content in to
my.cnf
- Save
my.cnf
- Start servers
You do not have to put a complete configuration in the my.cnf file. You can just add parts of a configuration ... for example:
[mysqld]
max_allowed_packet = 64M

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17Note that MAMP Pro will create its own version. You can edit it more "nicely," though it's a bit of a pain for people used to the command line. Just go File->Edit Template->MySQL my.cnf, and change whatever settings you need. More info on both MAMP and MAMP pro [here](http://blog-en.mamp.info/2010/02/how-to-set-mysql-default-storage-engine.html). – Chris Krycho Apr 06 '12 at 18:46
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1Manually adding the my.cnf file to Application/MAMP/conf/ solved ERROR 2006 (HY000) at line 1357: MySQL server has gone away. This post is old but still relevant for MAMP Version 3.0.2 (not pro) – C13L0 Mar 16 '14 at 19:25
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21+1 for the `max_allowed_packet`. How did you know **exactly** what I was looking for? – Igbanam Sep 29 '14 at 11:27
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4Thanks for including the [mysqld] line. I was missing that and banging my head against the wall why MAMP couldn't start up. – Brendan Falkowski May 11 '15 at 17:20
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1@Yasky, well, looks like at least 15 people that use MAMP have probably encountered '#2006 MySQL server has gone away', googled it, found [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7942154/mysql-error-2006-mysql-server-has-gone-away) SO question, and then came here to find out where the my.cnf file is! – thephpdev Nov 18 '16 at 13:29
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I use MAMP 5.3 and have my.cnf in the following locations but they are all ignored obviously (yes i restarted the mysql service): ./MAMP/Library/my.cnf ./MAMP/my.cnf ./MAMP/apache/my.cnf – Achim Koellner Nov 30 '19 at 01:52
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Thank you, I've spent all day trying to figure this out. I flushed the cache of my drupal 8 project and it gave this error 'SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 2006 MySQL server has gone away'. Above was the correct solution. – Travis Smith Jan 15 '20 at 22:11
Some standard my.cnf variants can be found at /Applications/MAMP/Library/support-files/
Invoking mysqld --verbose --help | less
on the MAMP mysqld binary reports:
Default options are read from the following files in the given order: /etc/my.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf /Applications/MAMP/conf/my.cnf ~/.my.cnf
Copy one of the variants in /Applications/MAMP/Library/support-files/ to one of the locations in mysqld's search order above, and you should be good to go after restarting the daemon.

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Since MAMP server generates my.cnf
dynamically on MAMP server startup, it's best to use the following steps to add or edit the MySQL configuration:
- Stop MAMP server
- Goto Files > Edit Template > MySQL
- Make the necessary changes and save
- Restart MAMP
I tried this on MAMP PRO 3.5.

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For MAMP 3.5 on Mac El Capitan, only this worked for me:
- Stop servers
- Create a
my.cnf
file in/Applications/MAMP/Library/
Add your content into
my.cnf
like[mysqld] max_allowed_packet = 64M
Save
my.cnf
- Start servers
Not required to change ownership of file, it should work. Verify by running SHOW VARIABLES
in phpmyadmin and look for your changed setting.

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I found that MAMP PRO will create a my.cnf by default on startup under the MAMP/tmp directory if a ~/my.cnf is not provided ... grepping ps aux you may find the default location under /Applications/MAMP/tmp/my.cnf ...
ps aux | grep mysql
Which provided the following...
root 284 0.0 0.1 2435544 532 ?? Ss 12:00AM 0:00.06 /bin/sh /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqld_safe
--defaults-file=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/my.cnf
--port=8889 --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock
--user=mysql --pid-file=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.pid
--log-error=/Applications/MAMP/logs/mysql_error_log.err
--tmpdir=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/tmpdir
--datadir=/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/db/mysql

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