Disable MySQL slow query logging

MySQL is one of the most popular database management systems used for database driven sites (like WordPress). It is crucial that you are able to investigate issues with MySQL on your VPS or Dedicated server. Logging MySQL queries can cause a heavy load on your server, so it's important that you disable logging once you are finished with your investigation.

Steps

1. Login to your server through SSH as root.
2. Edit the /etc/my.cnf file.

vi /etc/my.cnf

3. Delete or comment out (#) the following lines in the [mysqld] section:
   mysql versions < than 5.5

   # Slow Query Log
   #set-variable=long_query_time=4
   #log-slow-queries=/var/log/slow-queries.log

   MySQL versions 5.5 and higher

   # Slow Query Log
   #slow_query_log=1
   #long_query_time=4
   #slow_query_log_file=/var/log/slow-queries.log

   MariaDB
   

   # Slow Query Log
   #slow_query_log
   #long_query_time=4
   #slow_query_log_file=/var/log/slow-queries.log

4. Save the file and exit the editor.
5. Restart the database service with the command appropriate to your enviornment.
   CentOS 6 cPanel MySQL CentOS 6

   service mysql restart
   service mysqld restart
   service mariadb restart

   CentOS 7

   systemctl mysqld restart
   systemctl mariadb restart

6. Check the slow query log to make sure it isn't running.
   

   tail -f /var/log/slow-queries.log

   Let this run a few minutes to make sure nothing is being logged. You can use 'Ctrl-C' to terminate the command when you are finished.

Related Steps

• Enable slow query logging.
• Review the slow query log.
• Review the PHP error log.

More Info

Our server experts can perform these steps for a fee. To learn more about the hosting services GoDaddy offers, see our Hosting Services Menu.