4.2.3 Command Options for Connecting to the Server

This section describes options supported by most MySQL client programs that control how client programs establish connections to the server and whether connections are encrypted. These options can be given on the command line or in an option file.

• Command Options for Connection Establishment

• Command Options for Encrypted Connections

Command Options for Connection Establishment

This section describes options that control how client programs establish connections to the server. For additional information and examples showing how to use them, see Section 4.2.4, “Connecting to the MySQL Server Using Command Options”.

Table 4.3 Connection-Establishment Option Summary

Option Name	Description
--default-auth	Authentication plugin to use
--host	Host on which MySQL server is located
--password	Password to use when connecting to server
--pipe	Connect to server using named pipe (Windows only)
--plugin-dir	Directory where plugins are installed
--port	TCP/IP port number for connection
--protocol	Connection protocol to use
--secure-auth	Do not send passwords to server in old (pre-4.1) format
--shared-memory-base-name	Name of shared memory to use for shared-memory connections
--socket	Unix socket file or Windows named pipe to use
--user	MySQL user name to use when connecting to server

• --default-auth=plugin

  A hint about which client-side authentication plugin to use. See Section 6.2.11, “Pluggable Authentication”.

• --host=host_name, -h host_name

  The host on which the MySQL server is running. The value can be a host name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address. The default value is localhost.

• --password[=pass_val], -p[pass_val]

  The password of the MySQL account used for connecting to the server. The password value is optional. If not given, the program prompts for one. If given, there must be no space between --password= or -p and the password following it. If no password option is specified, the default is to send no password.

  Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. To avoid giving the password on the command line, use an option file. See Section 6.1.2.1, “End-User Guidelines for Password Security”.

  To explicitly specify that there is no password and that the client program should not prompt for one, use the --skip-password option.

• --pipe, -W

  On Windows, connect to the server using a named pipe. This option applies only if the server was started with the named_pipe system variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by the named_pipe_full_access_group system variable.

• --plugin-dir=dir_name

  The directory in which to look for plugins. Specify this option if the --default-auth option is used to specify an authentication plugin but the client program does not find it. See Section 6.2.11, “Pluggable Authentication”.

• --port=port_num, -P port_num

  For TCP/IP connections, the port number to use. The default port number is 3306.

• --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

  This option explicitly specifies which protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when other connection parameters normally result in use of a protocol other than the one you want. For example, connections on Unix to localhost are made using a Unix socket file by default:

  mysql --host=localhost

  To force a TCP/IP connection to be used instead, specify a --protocol option:

  mysql --host=localhost --protocol=TCP

  The following table shows the permissible --protocol option values and indicates the platforms on which each value may be used. The values are not case-sensitive.

  --protocol Value	Connection Protocol	Permissible Operating Systems
  TCP	TCP/IP connection to local or remote server	All
  SOCKET	Unix socket file connection to local server	Unix only
  PIPE	Named-pipe connection to local or remote server	Windows only
  MEMORY	Shared-memory connection to local server	Windows only

• --secure-auth

  Do not send passwords to the server in old (pre-4.1) format. This prevents connections except for servers that use the newer password format. This option is enabled by default; use --skip-secure-auth to disable it.

  Note

  Passwords that use the pre-4.1 hashing method are less secure than passwords that use the native password hashing method and should be avoided. Pre-4.1 passwords are deprecated and support for them will be removed in a future MySQL release. For account upgrade instructions, see Section 6.4.1.3, “Migrating Away from Pre-4.1 Password Hashing and the mysql_old_password Plugin”.

  Note

  This option is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. As of MySQL 5.7.5, it is always enabled and attempting to disable it produces an error.

• --shared-memory-base-name=name

  On Windows, the shared-memory name to use for connections made using shared memory to a local server. The default value is MYSQL. The shared-memory name is case-sensitive.

  This option applies only if the server was started with the shared_memory system variable enabled to support shared-memory connections.

• --socket=path, -S path

  On Unix, the name of the Unix socket file to use for connections made using a named pipe to a local server. The default Unix socket file name is /tmp/mysql.sock.

  On Windows, the name of the named pipe to use for connections to a local server. The default Windows pipe name is MySQL. The pipe name is not case-sensitive.

  On Windows, this option applies only if the server was started with the named_pipe system variable enabled to support named-pipe connections. In addition, the user making the connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by the named_pipe_full_access_group system variable.

• --user=user_name, -u user_name

  The user name of the MySQL account to use for connecting to the server. The default user name is ODBC on Windows or your Unix login name on Unix.

Command Options for Encrypted Connections

This section describes options that specify whether to use encrypted connections, the names of certificate and key files, and other parameters related to encrypted-connection support. They are not available unless MySQL has been built with SSL support. See Section 2.9.6, “Configuring SSL Library Support”. For examples of suggested use and how to check whether a connection is encrypted, see Section 6.3.1, “Configuring MySQL to Use Encrypted Connections”.

For information about using encrypted connections from the MySQL C API, see Section 23.8.15, “C API Encrypted Connection Support”.

Table 4.4 Connection-Encryption Option Summary

Option Name	Description	Introduced
--server-public-key-path	Path name to file containing RSA public key	5.6.6
--skip-ssl	Disable connection encryption
--ssl	Enable connection encryption
--ssl-ca	File that contains list of trusted SSL Certificate Authorities
--ssl-capath	Directory that contains trusted SSL Certificate Authority certificate files
--ssl-cert	File that contains X.509 certificate
--ssl-cipher	Permissible ciphers for connection encryption
--ssl-crl	File that contains certificate revocation lists	5.6.3
--ssl-crlpath	Directory that contains certificate revocation-list files	5.6.3
--ssl-key	File that contains X.509 key
--ssl-mode	Desired security state of connection to server	5.6.30
--ssl-verify-server-cert	Verify host name against server certificate Common Name identity

• --server-public-key-path=file_name

  The path name to a file containing a client-side copy of the public key required by the server for RSA key pair-based password exchange. The file must be in PEM format. This option applies to clients that connect to the server with the sha256_password authentication plugin. This option is ignored for accounts that do not authenticate with that plugin. It is also ignored if RSA-based password exchange is not used, as is the case when the client connects to the server using a secure connection.

  This option is available only if MySQL was built using OpenSSL.

  For information about the sha256_password plugin, see Section 6.4.1.4, “SHA-256 Pluggable Authentication”.

• --ssl, --skip-ssl

  For the MySQL server, this option specifies that the server permits but does not require encrypted connections.

  For MySQL client programs, this option permits but does not require the client to connect to the server using encryption. Therefore, this option is not sufficient in itself to cause an encrypted connection to be used. For example, if you specify this option for a client program but the server has not been configured to support encrypted connections, the client falls back to an unencrypted connection.

  As a recommended set of options to enable encrypted connections, consider using at least --ssl-cert and --ssl-key on the server side and --ssl-ca on the client side. See Section 6.3.1, “Configuring MySQL to Use Encrypted Connections”.

  --ssl may be implied by other --ssl-xxx options, as indicated in the descriptions for those options.

  The --ssl option in negated form indicates that encryption should not be used and overrides other --ssl-xxx options. Specify the option as --skip-ssl or a synonym (--ssl=0, --disable-ssl). For example, you might have options specified in the [client] group of your option file to use encrypted connections by default when you invoke MySQL client programs. To use an unencrypted connection instead, invoke the client program with --ssl=0 on the command line to override the options in the option file.

  To require use of encrypted connections by a MySQL account, use a GRANT statement for the account that includes a REQUIRE SSL clause. This causes connection attempts by clients that use the account to be rejected unless MySQL supports encrypted connections and an encrypted connection can be established.

  The REQUIRE clause permits other encryption-related options, which can be used to enforce security requirements stricter than REQUIRE SSL. For additional details about which command options may or must be specified by clients that connect using accounts configured using the various REQUIRE options, see the description of REQUIRE in Section 13.7.1.4, “GRANT Syntax”.

• --ssl-ca=file_name

  The path name of the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate file in PEM format. This option implies --ssl.

  To tell the client not to authenticate the server certificate when establishing an encrypted connection to the server, specify neither --ssl-ca nor --ssl-capath. The server still verifies the client according to any applicable requirements established for the client account, and it still uses any --ssl-ca or --ssl-capath option values specified on the server side.

• --ssl-capath=dir_name

  The path name of the directory that contains trusted SSL certificate authority (CA) certificate files in PEM format. This option implies --ssl.

  To tell the client not to authenticate the server certificate when establishing an encrypted connection to the server, specify neither --ssl-ca nor --ssl-capath. The server still verifies the client according to any applicable requirements established for the client account, and it still uses any --ssl-ca or --ssl-capath option values specified on the server side.

  Support for this option depends on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. See Section 6.3.4, “SSL Library-Dependent Capabilities”.

• --ssl-cert=file_name

  The path name of the SSL public key certificate file in PEM format. On the client side, this is the client public key certificate. On the server side, this is the server public key certificate. This option implies --ssl.

• --ssl-cipher=cipher_list

  The list of permissible ciphers for connection encryption. If no cipher in the list is supported, encrypted connections will not work. This option implies --ssl.

  For greatest portability, cipher_list should be a list of one or more cipher names, separated by colons. This format is understood both by OpenSSL and yaSSL. Examples:

  --ssl-cipher=AES128-SHA
  --ssl-cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-SHA

  OpenSSL supports a more flexible syntax for specifying ciphers, as described in the OpenSSL documentation at https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/man1/ciphers.html. yaSSL does not, so attempts to use that extended syntax fail for a MySQL distribution compiled using yaSSL.

  For information about which encryption ciphers MySQL supports, see Section 6.3.2, “Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers”.

• --ssl-crl=file_name

  The path name of the file containing certificate revocation lists in PEM format. This option implies --ssl.

  If neither --ssl-crl nor --ssl-crlpath is given, no CRL checks are performed, even if the CA path contains certificate revocation lists.

  Support for this option depends on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. See Section 6.3.4, “SSL Library-Dependent Capabilities”.

• --ssl-crlpath=dir_name

  The path name of the directory that contains certificate revocation-list files in PEM format. This option implies --ssl.

  If neither --ssl-crl nor --ssl-crlpath is given, no CRL checks are performed, even if the CA path contains certificate revocation lists.

  Support for this option depends on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. See Section 6.3.4, “SSL Library-Dependent Capabilities”.

• --ssl-key=file_name

  The path name of the SSL private key file in PEM format. On the client side, this is the client private key. On the server side, this is the server private key. This option implies --ssl.

  If the MySQL distribution was built using OpenSSL or yaSSL and the key file is protected by a passphrase, the program prompts the user for the passphrase. The password must be given interactively; it cannot be stored in a file. If the passphrase is incorrect, the program continues as if it could not read the key.

• --ssl-mode=mode

  This option is available only for client programs, not the server. It specifies the desired security state of the connection to the server:

  • If this option is not specified, the default is to establish an unencrypted connection. This is like the --ssl=0 option or its synonyms (--skip-ssl, --disable-ssl).

  • If this option is specified, the only permissible value is REQUIRED (establish an encrypted connection if the server supports encrypted connections). The connection attempt fails if an encrypted connection cannot be established.

  The --ssl-mode option was added in MySQL 5.6.30.

  Note

  To require encrypted connections in MySQL 5.6, the standard MySQL client programs check whether the connection is encrypted if --ssl-mode=REQUIRED was specified. If not, the client exits with an error. Third-party applications that must be able to require encrypted connections can use the same technique. For details, see Section 23.8.7.68, “mysql_ssl_set()”.

• --ssl-verify-server-cert

  This option is available only for client programs, not the server. It causes the client to perform host name identity verification by checking the host name the client uses for connecting to the server against the identity in the certificate that the server sends to the client:

  • As of MySQL 5.6.41, if the client uses OpenSSL 1.0.2 or higher, the client checks whether the host name that it uses for connecting matches either the Subject Alternative Name value or the Common Name value in the server certificate.

  • Otherwise, the client checks whether the host name that it uses for connecting matches the Common Name value in the server certificate.

  The connection fails if there is a mismatch. For encrypted connections, this option helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. Host name identity verification is disabled by default.