mysql Ver 14.12 Distrib 5.0.77, for redhat-linux-gnu (i686) using readline 5.1 I need to work on MySQL about once every six months, so it's always an exciting re-learning experience [root@server ~]# ...

When running non-interactive MySQL commands one may submit MySQL credentials on the command line (we'll share with you a better option after the break), e.g.: mysql --password=secret --user=username ...