MySQL Workbench provides a tool, the DB Connection Editor, for creating and managing connections to servers. The connections created can then be used from the wizards that need to connect to a server, for example the wizard used to reverse engineer a live database. However, it is still possible to set connection parameters from these wizards if required, without invoking the DB Connection Editor directly.
The DB Connection Editor is invoked by selecting , from the main menu. It can also be invoked from any of the wizards requiring access to a live database. This is achieved by using the Manage Stored Connections item, found in the wizard's Stored Connection drop down list box.
Once the DB Connection Editor is launched, you are presented with a dialog that allows you to create or delete connections:
Click to create a new connection. Once created the connection can be selected from the Stored Connections list. You can then set various parameters for the connection, including the following:
Connection Name: The name to use to refer to this connection.
Database System: The database system to connect to. Currently only MySQL is available.
Driver: The connector to use to connect to the database server. Currently only MySQL Native Driver is available.
Hostname: The host name or IP address of the MySQL server.
Port: The TCP/IP port on which the MySQL server is listening (the default is 3306).
Username: The user name used to connect to the MySQL server.
Password: The password used to connect to the MySQL server. Note: For security reasons passwords are not stored in the connection profile.
There are also more parameters that can be set for the connection via the Advanced tab:
The advanced options include:
Use compression protocol: If checked, the communication between the application and the MySQL server will be compressed, which may increase transfer rates. This corresponds to starting a MySQL command-line tool with the
--compressoption.Use SSL if available: This option turns on SSL encryption.
Use ANSI quotes to quote identifiers: Treat “"” as an identifier quote character (like the “`” quote character) and not as a string quote character. You can still use “`” to quote identifiers with this mode enabled. With this option enabled, you cannot use double quotes to quote literal strings, because it is interpreted as an identifier. Note: if this option is selected, it overrides the server setting.
Socket name: Use this option to connect to a named pipe or Unix socket file.
Once all parameters have been set as required you can click the button to test the connection to the live server. Once you are satisfied that the connection works as expected you can then close the wizard by clicking the button. You can then use the stored connection from any of the wizards requiring connection to a live server.