MySQL Utilities - ~/.my.cnf option file

I am trying to use 2 of the mysql utilities, mysqldiff and mysqldbcompare and want to avoid putting my password on the command line

Is it possible to use an option file to specify the password for my DB connection to prevent me having to specify the password?

This is the sort of command that I currently have...

/usr/share/mysql-workbench/python/mysqldiff --server1=root@localhost --server2=root@localhost --difftype=sql db1:db2

I also have a file at ~/.my.cnf that has "600" permissions and contains the following..

[client]
user=root
password=mypassword

When I connect via the command line to MySQL it picks up the details in my option file but the mysql utilities don't :-/

Solution 1:

Try this -

[client]
user=root
password="pass"

[mysql]
user=root
password="pass"

[mysqldump]
user=root
password="pass"

[mysqldiff]
user=root
password="pass"

Location for .my.cnf: ~/.my.cnf

Please refer to the manual page entitled Using Option Files

Solution 2:

To enhance on @Retraut's answer get your passwords in quotes. The accepted answer wouldn't work if you have special characters in your password, which by the way, is good security practice.

[client]
user=root
password="p@$$"

[mysql]
user=root
password="p@$$"

[mysqldump]
user=root
password="p@$$"

[mysqldiff]
user=root
password="p@$$"

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/option-files.html

Search for "Here is a typical user option file:" and see the example they state in there. Good luck, and I hope to save someone else some time.