Update my.cnf without restarting MySQL I want to update my my.cnf without restarting mysql, is it possible?

In fact I just want to set lower_case_table_names = 1, but I do not have the permission to restart MySQL.
You can always check MySQL manual if a variable is dynamic: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/server-system-variables.html#sysvar_lower_case_table_names

Unfortunately lower_case_table_names is not. So you have to restart MySQL to make this variable picked up.