$ cat /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf

#

# These groups are read by MariaDB server.

# Use it for options that only the server (but not clients) should see

#

# See the examples of server my.cnf files in /usr/share/mysql/

#

# this is read by the standalone daemon and embedded servers

[server]

# this is only for the mysqld standalone daemon

[mysqld]

# this is only for embedded server

[embedded]

# This group is only read by MariaDB servers, not by MySQL.

# If you use the same .cnf file for MySQL and MariaDB,

# you can put MariaDB-only options here

[mariadb]

# This group is only read by MariaDB-10.0 servers.

# If you use the same .cnf file for MariaDB of different versions,

# use this group for options that older servers don't understand

[mariadb-10.0]

log_bin

binlog_format=ROW

server_id=1

skip_name_resolve

datadir=/exports/mysql

$ /usr/bin/my_print_defaults  mysqld server mysql_server mysql.server

$ /usr/bin/my_print_defaults  --mysqld

--log_bin

--binlog_format=ROW

--server_id=1

--skip_name_resolve

--datadir=/exports/mysql

$ /usr/bin/my_print_defaults  --mysqld | grep "datadir"

--datadir=/exports/mysql

$ sudo service mysql start

Starting MySQL. SUCCESS!

$ mysql -u root --execute="SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'datadir'"

+---------------+-----------------+

| Variable_name | Value           |

+---------------+-----------------+

| datadir       | /var/lib/mysql/ |

+---------------+-----------------+