Hi, mysql -u root -pmy\$qlPW -N -B -e 'show databases' gives the right output but `mysql -u root -pmy\$qlPW -N -B -e 'show databases'` gives ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES) I hope it is the escaping issue with $ inside ``? How do you do that? thanks --Siju