In order to connect to the server, when calling mysql, you usually need to provide a MySQL username and most likely a password. If the server is running on a machine other than the login server, you also need to specify the hostname. Contact your administrator to find out the parameters used to connect (i.e., the host to connect to, the username, and the password used). After knowing the correct parameters, you can connect as follows:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p Enter password: ********
host and user respectively represent the host name where the MySQL server is running and the MySQL account user name. Replaced with the correct value when set. ******** represents your password; enter it when mysql displays the Enter password: prompt.
If it works, you should see some introductory information after the 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: 5.1.2-alpha-standard Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer. mysql>
mysql> The prompt tells you that mysql is ready to enter commands for you.
Some MySQL installations allow users to connect to servers running on localhost as an anonymous (unnamed) user. If this is the case for your machine, you should be able to call mysql to connect to the server without any options:
shell> mysql
After successfully connecting, you can enter QUIT (or q) at the mysql> prompt to exit at any time:
mysql> QUIT Bye
In Unix, you can also press control-D to disconnect from the server.
Most of the examples in the following chapters assume you are connected to the server. Specified by the mysql> prompt.