[SOLVED]Access MySQL remotely error

Check in my.cnf and remove the line that specifies it should bind to 127.0.0.1.

@BarkerJr:

Check in my.cnf and remove the line that specifies it should bind to 127.0.0.1.
I have commented it out, and it works!!

Like I wrote before, I was using HeidiSQL and MySQL Administrator.

Using HeidiSQL did not help me out. After creating my ssr keys and uploading to the server, it gave me a different error while trying to connect through a SSH tunnel.
> lost connection to mysql server at 'reading initial communication packet', system error 0

The thing is that i had previously added a tunnel with putty, which did not work. I guess that commenting that ip out made it ok, but i was trying to connect with a HeidiSQL tunnel (using my servers ip) and not with a normal tcp ip connection to 127.0.0.1

I would add here tow key tutorials that complemented linode´s Securely Administer MySQL with an SSH Tunnel greatly:

Key-Based SSH Logins With PuTTY

Using putty with OpenSSH

Thanks BarkerJr, succinct answer but right on…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

You DO NOT WANT to have your MySQL server listen on the internet-accesible interface, EXCEPT when you're doing replication or other server-server stuff, and then only after you set up iptables to block 3306 from everyone except that other server.

Keep it bound to 127.0.0.1 only.

For HeidiSQL and co. you SSH into your VPS, and use SSH port forwarding.

In case of Putty, you'd go to Connection->SSH->Tunnels,

put Source port: XXXX, Destination: 127.0.0.1:3306, then put 127.0.0.1:XXXX in HeidiSQL as the IP to connect to.

Re: second part of the post - sounds to me like you were trying to put your server's IP instead of 127.0.0.1 as the destination. You want to access the server's own loop-back interface.

So long as you have passwords on your mysql users, it shouldn't be any less secure than allowing sshd to listen at the public interface, right?

@BarkerJr:

So long as you have passwords on your mysql users, it shouldn't be any less secure than allowing sshd to listen at the public interface, right?

If you're using passwords in sshd, it's a little less secure (mysql uses 40 bit encryption IIRC). If you're using keys in sshd, it's definitely less secure.

That also assumes that MySQL's access control methods are as secure as OpenSSH's, or at least get as much active scrutiny. Since most reasonable default configurations have MySQL bound to localhost (unlike OpenSSH, which is open to the world and actively attacked by default), this is a dangerous assumption.

So, by commenting the localhost ip from the config file, it is listening to all?

I will try to use localhost in the config file and check if i can still connect.

> Re: second part of the post - sounds to me like you were trying to put your server's IP instead of 127.0.0.1 as the destination. You want to access the server's own loop-back interface.
Yes, at one point that is exactly what I was doing…

I wish there was a way to flag posts like this for future reference as a certain reply here is going to save me a lot of headaches…

@jefe78:

I wish there was a way to flag posts like this for future reference as a certain reply here is going to save me a lot of headaches…
Would the "Watch this topic for replies" function (link at bottom of a topic page) serve?

(Either that, or since you added a post, checking the "Notify me when a reply is posted" option when you make your post should serve similarly).

– David

@db3l:

@jefe78:

I wish there was a way to flag posts like this for future reference as a certain reply here is going to save me a lot of headaches…
Would the "Watch this topic for replies" function (link at bottom of a topic page) serve?

(Either that, or since you added a post, checking the "Notify me when a reply is posted" option when you make your post should serve similarly).

– David

hot damn, I hadn't noticed either of those. I figured someone would point SOMETHING like that out. Thanks!

@goliatone:

So, by commenting the localhost ip from the config file, it is listening to all?

I will try to use localhost in the config file and check if i can still connect.
I did bind to 127.0.0.1 in my.conf and everything still works fine.

So, that leaves me with the impression that I was having issues with putty and tunneling rather than with mysql itself.