EC
1238
MariaDBERRORCriticalSyntax / VariablesHIGH confidence

SESSION variable cannot be used with SET GLOBAL

Production Risk

Low — SET fails; current configuration unchanged.

What this means

ER_INCORRECT_GLOBAL_LOCAL_VAR (1238, SQLSTATE HY000) is raised when a variable that is session-scoped only is used with SET GLOBAL, or a global-only variable is used with SET SESSION.

Why it happens
  1. 1Using SET GLOBAL on a session-only variable like sql_log_bin
  2. 2Using SET SESSION on a global-only variable
How to reproduce
trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
SET GLOBAL sql_log_bin = 0;  -- sql_log_bin is session-only, not global

expected output

ERROR 1238 (HY000): Variable 'sql_log_bin' is a SESSION variable and can't be used with SET GLOBAL

Fix

Use the correct scope for the variable

Use the correct scope for the variable
SET SESSION sql_log_bin = 0;  -- correct scope

Why this works

Use SESSION for session-scoped variables and GLOBAL for global variables.

Sources
Official documentation ↗

MySQL 8.0 — 1238 ER_INCORRECT_GLOBAL_LOCAL_VAR

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