I do it this way (the easy way (Debian-Ubuntu)).
Code:
10:05 AM barry@server-7:~$ sudo -i
[sudo] password for barry:
root@server-7:~# service mysql status
mysql start/running, process 1280
root@server-7:~# service mysql restart
mysql start/running, process 30966
root@server-7:~# <ctrl+d>
root@server-7:~# logout
barry@server-7:~#