Sometimes it’s a good idea to prevent mysql from writing a history file. The mysql history file contains all the commands you type across all sessions.

Your default mysql history file is ~/.mysql_history.

As this is an obvious security risk, it is sometimes a good idea to disable this file.

To disable mysql history do the following:

  1. Delete your existing ~/.mysql_history file.

  2. Edit your ~/.profile file and add the following:

export MYSQL_HISTFILE=/dev/null

This directs your mysql history to /dev/null

  1. Apply your changes with:
source ~/.profile

  1. Login into mysql and run some commands.

  2. Logout.

  3. Verify that the ~/.mysql_history file has not been created :)