Question

Does the command line client of mysql allow me to listen to current queries?

So i would not need to turn on logging and can check the queries for the time, i am interested to it temporarily.

Answer 1

Assuming you are using MySQL version 5.1.16 or newer, you can temporarily enable the general query log and have it log to a table instead of a file. Then you can select from that table to get the latest query.

Here’s an example:

-- capture current state
SET @old_general_log = @@global.general_log;
SET @old_log_output = @@global.log_output;

-- set log output to table instead of file
set global log_output = 'TABLE';
-- enable the general log
set global general_log = 'ON';

-- get the latest query, excluding my session
select * 
from mysql.general_log
where thread_id != connection_id()
order by event_time desc
limit 1;

-- revert to previous state when done
set global general_log = @old_general_log;
set global log_output = @old_log_output;