Connecting to the MariaDB Server
For a client program to be able to connect to the MariaDB server, it must use the proper connection parameters, such as the name of the host where the server is running and the user name and password of your MariaDB account. Each connection parameter has a default value, but you can override them as necessary using program options specified either on the command line or in an option file.
The examples here use the mysql client program, but the principles apply to other clients such as mysqldump, mysqladmin, or mysqlshow.
This command invokes mysql without specifying any connection parameters explicitly:
shell> MariaDB
Because there are no parameter options, the default values apply:
- The default host name is
localhost
. On Unix, this has a special meaning, as described later. - The default user name is
ODBC
on Windows or your Unix login name on Unix. - No password is sent if neither
-p
nor--password
is given. - For mysql, the first nonoption argument is taken as the name of the default database. If there is no such option, mysql does not select a default database.
To specify the host name and user name explicitly, as well as a password, supply appropriate options on the command line:
shell>mysql --host=localhost --user=myname --password=mypass mydb
shell>mysql -h localhost -u myname -pmypass mydb
For password options, the password value is optional:
- If you use a
-p
or--password
option and specify the password value, there must be no space between-p
or--password=
and the password following it. - If you use a
-p
or--password
option but do not specify the password value, the client program prompts you to enter the password. The password is not displayed as you enter it. This is more secure than giving the password on the command line. Other users on your system may be able to see a password specified on the command line by executing a command such as ps auxw. See , "End-User Guidelines for Password Security".
As just mentioned, including the password value on the command line can be a security risk. To avoid this problem, specify the --password
or -p
option without any following password value:
shell>mysql --host=localhost --user=myname --password mydb
shell>mysql -h localhost -u myname -p mydb
When the password option has no password value, the client program prints a prompt and waits for you to enter the password. (In these examples, mydb
is not interpreted as a password because it is separated from the preceding password option by a space.)
On some systems, the library routine that MariaDB uses to prompt for a password automatically limits the password to eight characters. That is a problem with the system library, not with MySQL. Internally, MariaDB does not have any limit for the length of the password. To work around the problem, change your MariaDB password to a value that is eight or fewer characters long, or put your password in an option file.
On Unix, MariaDB programs treat the host name localhost
specially, in a way that is likely different from what you expect compared to other network-based programs. For connections to localhost
, MariaDB programs attempt to connect to the local server by using a Unix socket file. This occurs even if a --port
or -P
option is given to specify a port number. To ensure that the client makes a TCP/IP connection to the local server, use --host
or -h
to specify a host name value of 127.0.0.1
, or the IP address or name of the local server. You can also specify the connection protocol explicitly, even for localhost
, by using the --protocol=TCP
option. For example:
shell>mysql --host=127.0.0.1
shell>mysql --protocol=TCP
The --protocol
option enables you to establish a particular type of connection even when the other options would normally default to some other protocol.
On Windows, you can force a MariaDB client to use a named-pipe connection by specifying the --pipe
or --protocol=PIPE
option, or by specifying .
(period) as the host name. If named-pipe connections are not enabled, an error occurs. Use the --socket
option to specify the name of the pipe if you do not want to use the default pipe name.
Connections to remote servers always use TCP/IP. This command connects to the server running on remote.example.com
using the default port number (3306):
shell> mysql --host=remote.example.com
To specify a port number explicitly, use the --port
or -P
option:
shell> mysql --host=remote.example.com --port=13306
You can specify a port number for connections to a local server, too. However, as indicated previously, connections to localhost
on Unix will use a socket file by default. You will need to force a TCP/IP connection as already described or any option that specifies a port number will be ignored.
For this command, the program uses a socket file on Unix and the --port
option is ignored:
shell> mysql --port=13306 --host=localhost
To cause the port number to be used, invoke the program in either of these ways:
shell>mysql --port=13306 --host=127.0.0.1
shell>mysql --port=13306 --protocol=TCP
The following list summarizes the options that can be used to control how client programs connect to the server:
--host=
,host_name
-h
host_name
The host where the server is running. The default value is
localhost
.--password[=
,pass_val
]-p[
pass_val
]The password of the MariaDB account. As described earlier, the password value is optional, but if given, there must be no space between
-p
or--password=
and the password following it. The default is to send no password.--pipe
,-W
On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. The server must be started with the
--enable-named-pipe
option to enable named-pipe connections.--port=
,port_num
-P
port_num
The port number to use for the connection, for connections made using TCP/IP. The default port number is 3306.
--protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}
This option explicitly specifies a protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally would cause a protocol to be used other than the one you want. For example, connections on Unix to
localhost
are made using a Unix socket file by default:shell>
mysql --host=localhost
To force a TCP/IP connection to be used instead, specify a
--protocol
option:shell>
mysql --host=localhost --protocol=TCP
The following table shows the permissible
--protocol
option values and indicates the platforms on which each value may be used. The values are not case sensitive.--protocol
ValueConnection Protocol Permissible Operating Systems TCP
TCP/IP connection to local or remote server All SOCKET
Unix socket file connection to local server Unix only PIPE
Named-pipe connection to local or remote server Windows only MEMORY
Shared-memory connection to local server Windows only --shared-memory-base-name=
name
On Windows, the shared-memory name to use, for connections made using shared memory to a local server. The default value is
MariaDB
. The shared-memory name is case sensitive.The server must be started with the
--shared-memory
option to enable shared-memory connections.--socket=
,file_name
-S
file_name
On Unix, the name of the Unix socket file to use, for connections made using a named pipe to a local server. The default Unix socket file name is
/tmp/mysql.sock
.On Windows, the name of the named pipe to use, for connections to a local server. The default Windows pipe name is
MariaDB
. The pipe name is not case sensitive.The server must be started with the
--enable-named-pipe
option to enable named-pipe connections.--ssl*
Options that begin with
--ssl
are used for establishing a secure connection to the server using SSL, if the server is configured with SSL support. For details, see , "SSL Command Options".--user=
,user_name
-u
user_name
The user name of the MariaDB account you want to use. The default user name is
ODBC
on Windows or your Unix login name on Unix.
It is possible to specify different default values to be used when you make a connection so that you need not enter them on the command line each time you invoke a client program. This can be done in a couple of ways:
- You can specify connection parameters in the
[client]
section of an option file. The relevant section of the file might look like this:[client] host=
host_name
user=user_name
password=your_pass
, "Using Option Files", discusses option files further.
- You can specify some connection parameters using environment variables. The host can be specified for mysql using
MYSQL_HOST
. The MariaDB user name can be specified usingUSER
(this is for Windows only). The password can be specified usingMYSQL_PWD
, although this is insecure; see , "End-User Guidelines for Password Security". For a list of variables, see , "Environment Variables".