# If the root user has a password you have to create a
# /root/.my.cnf configuration file with the following
# content:
#
# [mysqladmin]
# password = <secret>
# user= root
#
# where "<secret>" is the password.
#
# ATTENTION: This /root/.my.cnf should be readable ONLY
# for root !


[root@db1.cm.tor.fmpub.net ~]# ll .my.cnf
-r-------- 1 root root 74 Jan 27 04:07 .my.cnf

Contents of file.

[mysqladmin]
password = STRIPPEDOUT
user = root


/etc/my.cnf

[mysqld]
log_error
log-bin=mysql-bin
slow-query-log=1
slow-query-log-file=db1.cm.tor-slow.log
slow_launch_time=1
long_query_time=2
expire_logs_days = 3

[mysqld_safe]
log-error=/var/lib/mysql/mysqld.log
pid-file=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid