RHEL 7, mysql yum repo, mysql 5.6, use non-default datadir?

[7 reeds]

Hi,

I have a client who anticipates a very large "local" DB presence within a year or two -- lots and lots of inserts. I want to place the datadir in an expandable partition that is not /var/lib/mysql.

I have done this. I created a mount point "/bigDB" I set the /etc/my.cnf file to know about:

datadir=/bigDB
socket=/bigDB/mysql.sock

I can start the server.

I can not run mysql_secure_installation because it keeps trying to use the default socket in /var/lib/mysql

I can not run the mysql command line client unless I either add the --socket argument or add the socket to a ~/.my.cnf file

I do not see a socket option for mysql_secure_installation and it seems to ignore the system and user config files.

How do I deal with this?

Seven