The server rejects an option value that should be an unsigned integer but is non-numeric or outside the 64-bit range.
MySQL Error 79: EE_INCORRECT_UINT_VALUE_FOR_OPTION occurs when a system variable or startup option expects an unsigned integer but receives an invalid value. Check the option, cast or correct the value, and restart or re-run SET statements to resolve the problem.
Incorrect unsigned integer value: '%s'. EE_INCORRECT_UINT_VALUE_FOR_OPTION was added in 8.0.13.
MySQL raises EE_INCORRECT_UINT_VALUE_FOR_OPTION when a global or session option that must contain an unsigned integer receives a non-numeric string, a negative number, or a value larger than 18446744073709551615. The server validates every SET or startup parameter and aborts if the check fails.
The error first appeared in MySQL 8.0.13, replacing silent truncation with an explicit exception.
Addressing it quickly avoids configuration drift and startup failures.
Supplying text such as ‘on’, ‘auto’, or an empty string to a variable like innodb_buffer_pool_size triggers the error. A typo while editing my.cnf or passing CLI flags can mis-type a unit suffix.
Using negative sentinel values during dynamic tuning also fails.
Migrating from pre-8.0.13 versions may surface hidden mistakes because older releases silently coerced or capped invalid integers.
Verify the variable name, required data type, and valid range in the MySQL Reference Manual. Replace the offending value with a proper unsigned integer, save my.cnf, and restart mysqld.
For online changes, issue a corrected SET GLOBAL statement and persist it if needed.
If you need units like MB or GB, multiply the figure manually because most numeric options do not parse suffixes. Cast user input to UNSIGNED in application code to avoid runtime errors.
my.cnf contains innodb_log_file_size = 256M - replace with 268435456. SET PERSIST max_connections = 'auto' fails - supply an explicit number such as 500.
STARTUP flag --slave_parallel_workers=-1 fails - choose 0 for automatic sizing when supported.
Galaxy users editing configuration scripts inside the SQL notebook can rely on lint-highlighting that flags non-numeric literals before deployment, preventing the error in CI.
Keep a version-controlled sample my.cnf with comments showing base-10 byte counts next to human-readable units. Validate all changes in a staging container that runs mysql --validate-config prior to production rollout.
Automate configuration through Ansible or Terraform modules that enforce numeric types.
Enable log_warnings and monitor error logs so new invalid values surface during deployment pipelines.
ER_WRONG_VALUE_FOR_VAR (1231) fires when a session variable receives an out-of-range value. ER_TRUNCATED_WRONG_VALUE (1292) appears for badly formatted DATE or ENUM literals. Both are fixed by supplying data that matches the declared type and constraints.
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MySQL 8.0.13 added strict validation for unsigned integer options. Older versions silently truncated invalid input.
Only a few options parse suffixes. Most require raw numbers. Convert MB to bytes to be safe.
Yes. Run mysqld --validate-config with the same defaults file to detect invalid values early.
Galaxy's SQL editor flags non-numeric literals in configuration scripts and offers AI suggestions, reducing the chance of EE_INCORRECT_UINT_VALUE_FOR_OPTION.
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