#### 5.4.2.10 Error Log File Flushing and Renaming

 If you flush the error log using a [`FLUSH ERROR LOGS`](flush.html#flush-error-logs) or [`FLUSH LOGS`](flush.html#flush-logs) statment, or a [**mysqladmin flush-logs**](mysqladmin.html) command, the server closes and reopens any error log file to which it is writing. To rename an error log file, do so manually before flushing. Flushing the logs then opens a new file with the original file name. For example, assuming a log file name of `*`host_name`*.err`, use the following commands to rename the file and create a new one:

```
mv host_name.err host_name.err-old
mysqladmin flush-logs
mv host_name.err-old backup-directory
```

 On Windows, use **rename** rather than **mv**.

 If the location of the error log file is not writable by the server, the log-flushing operation fails to create a new log file. For example, on Linux, the server might write the error log to the `/var/log/mysqld.log` file, where the `/var/log` directory is owned by `root` and is not writable by [**mysqld**](mysqld.html). For information about handling this case, see [Section 5.4.6, “Server Log Maintenance”](log-file-maintenance.html).

 If the server is not writing to a named error log file, no error log file renaming occurs when the error log is flushed.

