MySQL 5.6 Release Notes
To enable encrypted connections, your MySQL distribution must be built with SSL support, as described in Section 6.3.4, “Building MySQL with Support for Encrypted Connections”. In addition, several options are available to indicate whether to use encrypted connections, and to specify the appropriate certificate and key files. This section provides general guidance about configuring the server and clients for encrypted connections:
For a complete list of options related to establishment of encrypted connections, see Command Options for Encrypted Connections. Instructions for creating any required certificate and key files are available in Section 6.3.2, “Creating SSL and RSA Certificates and Keys”.
Encrypted connections also can be used in these contexts:
Between master and slave replication servers. See Section 17.3.8, “Setting Up Replication to Use Encrypted Connections”.
By client programs that are based on the MySQL C API. See Section 23.8.15, “C API Encrypted Connection Support”.
Note
If the server is compiled against OpenSSL, clients from MySQL 5.6 versions older than 5.6.17 are not able to connect to the server using encrypted connections if the client library is compiled using yaSSL. Either use a client and server compiled using the same SSL package, or upgrade to clients compiled against a client library version from MySQL 5.6.17 or higher.
These options on the server side specify the certificate and key files the server uses when permitting clients to establish encrypted connections:
--ssl-ca: The path name of the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate file. (--ssl-capathis similar but specifies the path name of a directory of CA certificate files.)--ssl-cert: The path name of the server public key certificate file. This certificate can be sent to the client and authenticated against the CA certificate that it has.--ssl-key: The path name of the server private key file.
For example, to enable the server for encrypted connections,
start it with these lines in the my.cnf
file, changing the file names as necessary:
[mysqld]
ssl-ca=ca.pem
ssl-cert=server-cert.pem
ssl-key=server-key.pem
Each certificate and key option names a file in PEM format. If
you have a MySQL source distribution, you can test your setup
using the demonstration certificate and key files in its
mysql-test/std_data directory.
MySQL also provides these options for server-side SSL control:
--ssl-cipher: The list of permissible ciphers for connection encryption.--ssl-crl: The path name of the file containing certificate revocation lists. (--ssl-crlpathis similar but specifies the path name of a directory of certificate revocation-list files.)
The values of the
--ssl- options
set the values of the corresponding system variables
(xxxssl_ca,
ssl_cert,
ssl_key, and so forth).
These options on the client side identify the certificate and
key files clients use when establishing encrypted connections to
the server. They are similar to the options used on the server
side, but --ssl-cert and
--ssl-key identify the client
public and private key:
--ssl-ca: The path name of the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate file. This option, if used, must specify the same certificate used by the server. (--ssl-capathis similar but specifies the path name of a directory of CA certificate files.)--ssl-cert: The path name of the client public key certificate file.--ssl-key: The path name of the client private key file.
For additional security relative to that provided by the default encryption, clients can supply a CA certificate matching the one used by the server and enable host name identity verification. In this way, the server and client place their trust in the same CA certificate and the client verifies that the host to which it connected is the one intended:
To specify the CA certificate, use
--ssl-ca(or--ssl-capath).To enable host name identity verification as well, specify
--ssl-verify-server-cert.To require an encrypted connection, specify
--ssl-mode=REQUIRED.--ssl-cipher: The list of permissible ciphers for connection encryption.--ssl-crl: The path name of the file containing certificate revocation lists. (--ssl-crlpathis similar but specifies the path name of a directory of certificate revocation-list files.)
Depending on the encryption requirements of the MySQL account used by a client, the client may be required to specify certain options to connect using encryption to the MySQL server.
Suppose that you want to connect using an account that has no
special encryption requirements or that was created using a
GRANT statement that included the
REQUIRE SSL clause. As a recommended set of
encrypted-connection options, start the server with at least
--ssl-cert and
--ssl-key, and invoke the client
with --ssl-ca (or
--ssl-capath). A client can
connect using encryption like this:
mysql --ssl-ca=ca.pem
To require that a client certificate also be specified, create
the account using a REQUIRE X509 clause. Then
the client must also specify the proper client key and
certificate files or the server will reject the connection:
mysql --ssl-ca=ca.pem \
--ssl-cert=client-cert.pem \
--ssl-key=client-key.pem
For additional information about the REQUIRE
clause, see Section 13.7.1.4, “GRANT Syntax”.
To prevent use of encryption and override other
--ssl- options,
invoke the client program with
xxx--ssl=0 or a synonym
(--skip-ssl,
--disable-ssl):
mysql --ssl=0
To determine whether the current connection with the server uses
encryption, check the session value of the
Ssl_cipher status variable. If
the value is empty, the connection is not encrypted. Otherwise,
the connection is encrypted and the value indicates the
encryption cipher. For example:
mysql> SHOW SESSION STATUS LIKE 'Ssl_cipher';
+---------------+--------------------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+--------------------+
| Ssl_cipher | DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA |
+---------------+--------------------+
For the mysql client, an alternative is to
use the STATUS or \s
command and check the SSL line:
mysql> \s
...
SSL: Not in use
...Or:
mysql> \s
...
SSL: Cipher in use is DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA
...