How to connect to MySql in another Ubuntu machine?

Question

Hi How do i connect to MySql from another Ubuntu machine. I tried this

mysql -h 'IP' -P 3306 -u test -ptest

I get ERROR 2003 (HY000): Can't connect to MySQL server on 'IP' (111). then i tried

 nmap -sS -O -p 3306 'IP'   and it says 3306/tcp closed mysql 

But in the MySql machine when i try it with localhost it works

 nmap -sS -O -p 3306 localhost it says 3306/tcp open mysql 

What am i missing here

Solution

Two ways to check this:

[1] in /etc/mysql/my.cnf if the database is configured to be listening on localhost (127.0.0.1) only. Look for the line

bind-address        = 127.0.0.1

and comment this line, follow by a restart of the database. I think this is your issue, since this is default in Ubuntu.

[2] Run "netstat -an | grep 3306" - it should give this when open for connections from the outside:

tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:3306            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN 

Comments

[Angelo R.]

Is your other machine set up for remote access to mysql?

[Rakesh]

When bind-address was commented it worked. Thanks mate

[Rakesh]

By commenting bind-address is mysql secure are there any security issues

[Henk]

Yes this IS a potential security issue indeed. At least use a firewall to limit access to port 3306. Google for the rest ;-)