Re: Need to change my.cnf

[n jelly]

No I can not vi into the /etc/my.cnf.
When I do even a 'find' /etc/my.cnf it gives me an error of SECRET permissions denied.
I guess what I am asking is if I should be able to edit my.cnf?
I am new to unix shell and writing to the shell. I am able to vi in other folders like the data directory and it works fine but MySQl does not use the right my.cnf. Meaning doesn't MySQl look first in etc/my.cnf and then override the options that it finds in the mysql/datadir/my.cnf folder?
I also tried to cp into the /etc folder after changing the my-large.cnf file that exists in the support-files folder but it wouldn't let me.
Another question: does cp'ing it replace the /etc/my.cnf file when you do that and if so, there are fewer options listed in the my-large.cnf vs the /etc/my.cnf file. What happens to all the other options? Are they just set to default? For example should i set all the options I want to change in the my-large and rename it to the my.cnf?
Thanks for any help.