3.1. Connecting to and Disconnecting from the Server
To connect to the server, you will usually need to provide a MySQL
user name when you invoke mysql and, most
likely, a password. If the server runs on a machine other than the
one where you log in, you will also need to specify a host name.
Contact your administrator to find out what connection parameters
you should use to connect (that is, what host, user name, and
password to use). Once you know the proper parameters, you should
be able to connect like this:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p
Enter password: ********
host and user represent the
host name where your MySQL server is running and the user name of
your MySQL account. Substitute appropriate values for your setup.
The ******** represents your password; enter it
when mysql displays the Enter
password: prompt.
If that works, you should see some introductory information
followed by a mysql> prompt:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p
Enter password: ********
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 25338 to server version: 5.1.7-beta-standard
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql>
The mysql> prompt tells you that
mysql is ready for you to enter commands.
If you are logging in on the same machine that MySQL is running
on, you can omit the host, and simply use the following:
shell< mysql -u user -p
If, when you attempt to log in, you get an error message such as
ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server
through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2), it means that
that MySQL server daemon (Unix) or service (Windows) is not
running. Consult the administrator or see the section of
Chapter 2, Installing and Upgrading MySQL that is appropriate to your operating
system.
For help with other problems often encountered when trying to log
in, see Section A.2, “Common Errors When Using MySQL Programs”.
Some MySQL installations allow users to connect as the anonymous
(unnamed) user to the server running on the local host. If this is
the case on your machine, you should be able to connect to that
server by invoking mysql without any options:
shell> mysql
After you have connected successfully, you can disconnect any time
by typing QUIT (or \q) at
the mysql> prompt:
mysql> QUIT
Bye
On Unix, you can also disconnect by pressing Control-D.
Most examples in the following sections assume that you are
connected to the server. They indicate this by the
mysql> prompt.
