14.10.1 Enabling File Formats

The innodb_file_format configuration option enables an InnoDB file format for tablespaces.

Barracuda is the default innodb_file_format setting. In earlier releases, the default file format was Antelope.

Note

The innodb_file_format configuration option is deprecated and may be removed in a future release. For more information, see Section 14.10, “InnoDB File-Format Management”.

You can set the value of innodb_file_format on the command line when you start mysqld, or in the option file (my.cnf on Unix, my.ini on Windows). You can also change it dynamically with a SET GLOBAL statement.

SET GLOBAL innodb_file_format=Barracuda;

Usage notes

InnoDB file format settings do not apply to tables stored in general tablespaces. General tablespaces provide support for all row formats and associated features. For more information, see Section 14.6.3.3, “General Tablespaces”.
The innodb_file_format setting is not applicable when using the TABLESPACE [=] innodb_system table option with CREATE TABLE or ALTER TABLE to store a DYNAMIC table in the system tablespace.
The innodb_file_format setting is ignored when creating tables that use the DYNAMIC row format. For more information, see DYNAMIC Row Format.