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Connect to a Cloud Databases Instance

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This article describes methods for connecting to your Cloud Databases instance.

Connect through a cloud server by using SSH and the hostname

Use the following steps to connect through a cloud server by using Secure Shell (SSH) and the hostname:

  1. Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.

  2. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.

  3. Select Databases > MySQL.

  4. Click the name of the instance to which you want to connect.

  5. Copy the hostname string.

  6. From a Terminal window, use SSH to log in to a cloud server that's located in the same region as your cloud database instance. The following line of code shows an example SSH command:

    ssh user@IPaddress

  7. On your server, use the MySQL client (or a similar tool) to access the database. For MySQL, use the following command and paste the hostname string following the -h option:

    mysql -h hostname_string -u database_instance_username -p

Connect to the database directly by using the hostname

This section shows you how to use a sample script to display a simple web page. Displaying the web page helps you test your connection to your database instance.

Your web server must be in the same region as your database instance so that it is able to connect to the instance through the cloud private network.

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This process assumes that your web server and PHP are configured correctly.

Copy and paste the PHP script

Copy the following PHP script and paste it into a text editor:

<html>
<head><title>Connecting to Cloud Databases</title></head>
<body><pre>
<?php
    // phpinfo();
    $THE_HOST = "5c70345ad036fc112dc0a14ee1db7992f5c172db.rackspaceclouddb.com";
    $THE_USER = "fmdb_readonly";
    $THE_PWD = "fmdb_readonly";
    $THE_DB = "FEATUREMANIA";

    //
    // Get "e"
    //
    $arg_expr = trim($\_POST["e"]);
    if($arg_expr == "") {
        $arg_expr = "PI()";
    }
    else {
        if(get_magic_quotes_gpc()) {
         $arg_expr = stripslashes($arg_expr);
        }

        //
        // Connect to the database
        //
        $connection = mysql_connect($THE_HOST, $THE_USER, $THE_PWD);
        if (!$connection) {
             die('I could not connect to the database. The error is: ' . mysql_error());
        }
        mysql_select_db($THE_DB, $connection);
        //
        // Calculation
        //
        $result = mysql_query("SELECT (" . $arg_expr . ");", $connection);
        $row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_NUM);
        $eValue = $row[0];
        printf("The database connection worked, and MySQL says that %s = %s<BR>%s", $arg_expr, $eValue, mysql_error());
        mysql_free_result($result);
        mysql_close($connection);
    }
?>
    <FORM ACTION='clouddatabases.php' METHOD='POST'>
        Enter a MySQL expression:
        <INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="e" VALUE="<? echo $arg_expr; ?>"/>
        <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT">
    </FORM>
    This is a simple PHP example to test your connection to Rackspace Cloud Databases.
    It does not require your database to have any tables.
    It doubles as a handy way to calculate simple MySQL expressions from the browser.
    <BR>
    Because this sample uses string concatenation to compose SQL statements, only use this in your development environment in your password-protected site.
    <BR>
    EXAMPLES:
        PI()\*3*3
        curdate()
        3=3 AND 4>4
        MID('Rackspace',1,4)
        SIN(PI()/2)
        SHA1('Rackspace Cloud Databases')
    </pre></body>
</html>

Copy the instance hostname

Use the following steps to copy the instance hostname:

  1. Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.
  3. Select Databases > MySQL.
  4. Click the name for the instance to which you want to connect and view the details for the instance.
  5. Copy the hostname string.

Paste the instance hostname into a text editor

Use the following steps to paste the instance hostname into a text editor:

  1. Locate the following line of the script in your text editor:

    $THE_HOST = "5c70345ad036fc112dc0a14ee1db7992f5c172db.rackspaceclouddb.com";

  2. Paste the hostname string inside the double quotation marks, replacing the following value:

    5c70345ad036fc112dc0a14ee1db7992f5c172db.rackspaceclouddb.com

Modify the information in the script to specify your database user, password, and database instance name

Use the following steps to modify the script:

  1. Locate the following line of the script in your text editor:

    $THE_USER = "fmdb_readonly";

  2. Replace the fmdb_readonly value with the name of your database user. You can find this information in the Users section of the database instance Details page in the Cloud Control Panel.

  3. Locate the following line of the script in the text editor:

    $THE_PWD = "fmdb_readonly";

  4. Replace the fmdb_readonly value with the password for the user.

  5. Locate the following line of the script in the text editor:

    $THE_DB = "FEATUREMANIA";

  6. Replace the FEATUREMANIA value with the name of your database.

  7. Save the changes that you made to the script in the editor to a file name that ends in .php (for example, clouddatabases.php).

    📘

    If you change the script file name to something other than clouddatabases.php, you must modify the following line in the script to replace the clouddatabases.php value with the name that you chose for your script:

    <FORM ACTION='clouddatabases.php' METHOD='POST'>

Copy the modified script and execute it on your server

Use the following steps to copy the modified script and execute it on your
server:

  1. Copy the modified script to your server (for example, to the website's cgi-bin folder).

  2. Run the script to test connectivity to your database.

    If the connection to your database succeeds, the web page runs and displays a message similar to the following one:
    The database connection worked, and MySQL says that PI()*3*3 = 28.274334

  3. Type a MySQL expression (for example, PI()*3*3) and click Submit to have it evaluated.

Connect by using a cloud load balancer

This section describes how to connect by using a cloud load balancer.

📘

You should use this load balancer only to access your Cloud Databases instance. Do not add other nodes to the load balancer.

Copy the instance hostname

Use the following steps to copy the instance hostname:

  1. Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.
  3. Select Databases > MySQL.
  4. Click the name of the instance that you want to connect to the load balancer and view the details for the instance.
  5. Note the region in which this database is located. You must create the load balancer in the same region.
  6. Copy the hostname string.

Create a load balancer for the instance

Use the following steps to create a load balancer for the instance:

  1. In the top navigation bar of the Cloud Control Panel, click Networking.
  2. In the menu, under Create Resources, click Load Balancer.
  3. Enter a name for the load balancer.
  4. Specify the same region in which your database instance is located.
  5. In the Configuration section, select Accessible on the Public Internet for the Virtual IP option.
  6. Select MySQL for the Protocol/Port.
  7. In the Add Nodes section, click Add External Node.
  8. Paste the hostname string of the database instance in the IP or Hostname field.
  9. Enter the default MySQL port 3306 in the Port field.
  10. Click Add External Node.
  11. Click Create Load Balancer.

The load balancer is created, and your database is accessible through the load balancer.

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Using a load balancer to access your database instance incurs normal load balancing and bandwidth charges. For more information, see Cloud Load Balancers Pricing and Calculator.

Connect to a High Availability instance by using a public IP address

For information about connecting to a High Availability Cloud Databases instance by using a public Internet Protocol (IP) address, see High Availability for Cloud Databases.

Updated 12 months ago