MySQL connection methods

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To connect to a MySQL® server through MySQL Workbench®, you can use the following methods: standard TCP/IP connection, local socket or pipe, and standard TCP/IP over SecureShell (SSH).

Start a new connection in MySQL Workbench

To start the connection through MySQL Workbench, perform the following steps:

1. Go to Database > Connect to Database…
2. Enter the Connection Name.
3. Select the desired connection method from the dropdown list. See the following sections to learn more about these methods.

Standard TCP/IP connection method

Note: The skip_networking system variable affects this method. When this variable is off, use named pipes or shaped memory for Windows® or Unix® socket files in Unix.

This method has the following tabs: Parameter, SSL, and Advanced.

Parameter

The Parameter tab has the following options:

• Hostname: The MySQL server’s hostname or IP address.
• Port: The default TCP/IP port is 3306, but the MySQL server listen on another port for this protocol.
• Username: The user for the connection.
• Password: If not specified, you need to enter the user’s password when MySQL Workbench tries to connect. You can also use a vault to store passwords.
• Default Schema: The default schema used when connecting.

SSL

The SSL tab has the following options:

• Use SSL: To disable SSL ecnryption, select No. To use the encryption only option (if the client library supports it), select If available. To make it mandatory to use SSL encryption for the connection, select Require.
• SSL Key File: Specify the path on your local computer to the SSL key file.
• SSL CERT File: Specify the path on your local computer to the SSL certificate file.
• SSL CA File: Specify the path on your local computer to the SSL Certification Authority (CA) file.
• SSL Cipher: Select which cipher you want to use for the SSL encryption if you want a specific one. This tab has the following buttons:
  • SSL Wizard: This tool needs access to OpenSSL binary files in the system’s PATH to generate SSL certificates for the MySQL server and client.
  • Files: Shows the location of the SSL files that the SSL Wizard generated.

Advanced

The Advanced tab has the following options:

• Use compression protocol: Check this option to compress the communication between MySQL Workbench and the MySQL server. This option increases the transfer rates.
• Use ANSI quotes to quote identifiers: Use double quotes (") to quote identifiers instead of literal strings. This overrides the server setting.
• Enable Cleartext Authentication Plugin: Use this if your authentication method requires the user’s password in clear text instead of encrypted
• Use the old authentication protocol: Selcet this to disable the Connector/C++ secure_auth option. This helps users that use the old mysql_old_password authentication plugin to connect to the server.
• Timeout: Specify the time to attempt the connection.
• SQL_MODE: Specify an SQL_MODE to override the server’s default.

Local socket or pipe connection method

This connection method has the same tabs as the Standard TCP/IP one:

Parameters

The Parameter tab has the following options:

• Socket/Pipe Path: Specify the path on your local computer to the local socket or pipe file. If this is empty, it uses the default location.
• The username, password and default schema options are as in the Standard TCP/IP connection method.

SSL

The SSL tab has the following options:

• All the options in this tab are the same as in the Standard TCP/IP connection method.

Advanced

The Advanced tab has the following options:

• Most of the options in this tab are the same as in the Standard TCP/IP connection method.
• The Use compression protocol and Timeout options do not apply for this method.

Standard TCP/IP over SSH connection method

This connection method has the same tabs as the Standard TCP/IP one:

Parameters

The Parameters tab has the following options:

• This tab includes some common parameters with the Standard TCP/IP connection method and includes some other features.
• SSH Hostname: Specifies the hostname for the SSH server, where you can provide an optional port number after a semicolon.
• SSH Username: Specifies the user used to make the SSH connection.
• SSH Password: Specifies the password for the SSH connection. You can also use a vault.
• SSH Key File: Specifies the path to the SSH key file on your local computer.

If there is an error due to different host fingerprints, you can find the SSH host fingerprints in ~/.ssh/known_hosts for Linux® and macOS® systems and on C:\Users\username.ssh\known_hosts for Windows®.

SSL

The SSL tab has the following options:

• All the tab options are the same as in the Standard TCP/IP connection method.

Advanced

The Advanced tab has the following options:

• Most of the tab options are the same as in the Standard TCP/IP connection method.
• The Timeout option does not apply to this method.

Conclusion

Choose the method that suits your requirements better to a connection between the MySQL Workbench app and your MySQL server.

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