Question

How do I connect MySQL Workbench to my VPS?

Posted February 21, 2014 28.1k views
I am wondering if any one can tell me the correct method to connect to MySQL Server on my VPS using MySQL Workbench over SSH.... I tried earlier and the connection was refused... I don't like using phpMyAdmin on a live server!
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shane.scott
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shane.scott

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11 answers
rupert July 26, 2016

The key on a 2 server setup for me was to have the full internal address for the MySQL Hostname, i.e. 127.0.0.1:3306 - without this it just wouldn’t work and it was by a LOT or trial and tests that I managed to get this to work.....so:
SSH Hostname: xx.xx.xx.x:22 of the DB server, which is also used as the bind address in my.cnf
SSH Username: your admin username
MySQL Hostname: 127.0.0.1:3306
MySQL Server Port: 3306
Username: whatever LOCAL , i.e. on the same db server, admin user you have set up on MySQL

You can then close it down as needed, e.g. with ufw on Ubuntu etc.

this took a LONG time to figure out so hopefully will save some peeps some time!

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kamaln7 February 22, 2014
A more secure way would be keeping MySQL on the loopback interface and tunneling port 3306 to your local computer: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-set-up-ssh-tunneling-on-a-vps.
How To Set Up SSH Tunneling on a VPS
In this article, you'll learn how to create a safe, encrypted tunnel between your computer and your VPS along with how to bypass limits in a corporate network, how to bypass NAT, etc.
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michaelf January 21, 2016

If yo’re still having issues with this, see this thread which solved the connection to MySQL Workbench for me:
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/trying-to-connect-to-mysql-database-server-through-mysql-workbench-using-ssh?comment=42464

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ricardo.parraga February 21, 2014
Basically you'll need to have MySQL service listen to the public IP for remote connections since by default it listens on the loopback adapter.

Look at these two posts that might answer your question:
https://digitalocean.com/community/questions/how-to-create-a-secure-connection-for-workbench-to-mysql
https://digitalocean.com/community/questions/how-to-allow-remote-mysql-database-connection
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shane.scott February 27, 2014
Thanks guys :)
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abel.adam6 May 21, 2014
@kamal can you provide me with a very simple tutorial. i can't understand the link you provided.please.
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kamaln7 May 24, 2014
@Tekeste: Try following Example 1 in that article and replacing port 110 with port 3306.
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wmassingham July 5, 2014

MySQL Workbench works without any configuration necessary. When making a new connection, select “Standard TCP/IP over SSH”, then change the SSH and MySQL parameters as necessary. (You should probably keep the SQL server IP address as 127.0.0.1.)

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jango December 16, 2015

For those of you still searching, here’s the command you can use based on @kamaln7 ’s suggestion.

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dennismonari November 14, 2016

Thank you Rupert. You reply above saved me alot!

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presi September 4, 2017

Thansk Rupert!

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