6.4.2 mysql_secure_installation — Improve MySQL Installation Security

This program enables you to improve the security of your MySQL installation in the following ways:

• You can set a password for root accounts.

• You can remove root accounts that are accessible from outside the local host.

• You can remove anonymous-user accounts.

• You can remove the test database (which by default can be accessed by all users, even anonymous users), and privileges that permit anyone to access databases with names that start with test_.

mysql_secure_installation helps you implement security recommendations similar to those described at Section 2.9.4, “Securing the Initial MySQL Account”.

Normal usage is to connect to the local MySQL server; invoke mysql_secure_installation without arguments:

mysql_secure_installation

When executed, mysql_secure_installation prompts you to determine which actions to perform.

The validate_password component can be used for password strength checking. If the plugin is not installed, mysql_secure_installation prompts the user whether to install it. Any passwords entered later are checked using the plugin if it is enabled.

Most of the usual MySQL client options such as --host and --port can be used on the command line and in option files. For example, to connect to the local server over IPv6 using port 3307, use this command:

mysql_secure_installation --host=::1 --port=3307

mysql_secure_installation supports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the [mysql_secure_installation] and [client] groups of an option file. For information about option files used by MySQL programs, see Section 6.2.2.2, “Using Option Files”.

Table 6.9 mysql_secure_installation Options

Option Name	Description
--defaults-extra-file	Read named option file in addition to usual option files
--defaults-file	Read only named option file
--defaults-group-suffix	Option group suffix value
--help	Display help message and exit
--host	Host on which MySQL server is located
--no-defaults	Read no option files
--password	Accepted but always ignored. Whenever mysql_secure_installation is invoked, the user is prompted for a password, regardless
--port	TCP/IP port number for connection
--print-defaults	Print default options
--protocol	Transport protocol to use
--socket	Unix socket file or Windows named pipe to use
--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
--ssl-crlpath	Directory that contains certificate revocation-list files
--ssl-fips-mode	Whether to enable FIPS mode on client side
--ssl-key	File that contains X.509 key
--ssl-mode	Desired security state of connection to server
--ssl-session-data	File that contains SSL session data
--ssl-session-data-continue-on-failed-reuse	Whether to establish connections if session reuse fails
--tls-ciphersuites	Permissible TLSv1.3 ciphersuites for encrypted connections
--tls-sni-servername	Server name supplied by the client
--tls-version	Permissible TLS protocols for encrypted connections
--use-default	Execute with no user interactivity
--user	MySQL user name to use when connecting to server

• --help, -?

  Command-Line Format	--help

  Display a help message and exit.

• --defaults-extra-file=file_name

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-extra-file=file_name
  Type	File name

  Read this option file after the global option file but (on Unix) before the user option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. If file_name is not an absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current directory.

  For additional information about this and other option-file options, see Section 6.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.

• --defaults-file=file_name

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-file=file_name
  Type	File name

  Use only the given option file. If the file does not exist or is otherwise inaccessible, an error occurs. If file_name is not an absolute path name, it is interpreted relative to the current directory.

  For additional information about this and other option-file options, see Section 6.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.

• --defaults-group-suffix=str

  Command-Line Format	--defaults-group-suffix=str
  Type	String

  Read not only the usual option groups, but also groups with the usual names and a suffix of str. For example, mysql_secure_installation normally reads the [client] and [mysql_secure_installation] groups. If this option is given as --defaults-group-suffix=_other, mysql_secure_installation also reads the [client_other] and [mysql_secure_installation_other] groups.

  For additional information about this and other option-file options, see Section 6.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.

• --host=host_name, -h host_name

  Command-Line Format	--host

  Connect to the MySQL server on the given host.

• --no-defaults

  Command-Line Format	--no-defaults

  Do not read any option files. If program startup fails due to reading unknown options from an option file, --no-defaults can be used to prevent them from being read.

  The exception is that the .mylogin.cnf file is read in all cases, if it exists. This permits passwords to be specified in a safer way than on the command line even when --no-defaults is used. To create .mylogin.cnf, use the mysql_config_editor utility. See Section 6.6.7, “mysql_config_editor — MySQL Configuration Utility”.

  For additional information about this and other option-file options, see Section 6.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.

• --password=password, -p password

  Command-Line Format	--password=password
  Type	String
  Default Value	[none]

  This option is accepted but ignored. Whether or not this option is used, mysql_secure_installation always prompts the user for a password.

• --port=port_num, -P port_num

  Command-Line Format	--port=port_num
  Type	Numeric
  Default Value	3306

  For TCP/IP connections, the port number to use.

• --print-defaults

  Command-Line Format	--print-defaults

  Print the program name and all options that it gets from option files.

  For additional information about this and other option-file options, see Section 6.2.2.3, “Command-Line Options that Affect Option-File Handling”.

• --protocol={TCP|SOCKET|PIPE|MEMORY}

  Command-Line Format	--protocol=type
  Type	String
  Default Value	[see text]
  Valid Values	TCP SOCKET PIPE MEMORY

  The transport protocol to use for connecting to the server. It is useful when the other connection parameters normally result in use of a protocol other than the one you want. For details on the permissible values, see Section 6.2.7, “Connection Transport Protocols”.

• --socket=path, -S path

  Command-Line Format	--socket={file_name|pipe_name}
  Type	String

  For connections to localhost, the Unix socket file to use, or, on Windows, the name of the named pipe to use.

  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 connection must be a member of the Windows group specified by the named_pipe_full_access_group system variable.

• --ssl*

  Options that begin with --ssl specify whether to connect to the server using encryption and indicate where to find SSL keys and certificates. See Command Options for Encrypted Connections.

• --ssl-fips-mode={OFF|ON|STRICT}

  Command-Line Format	--ssl-fips-mode={OFF|ON|STRICT}
  Deprecated	Yes
  Type	Enumeration
  Default Value	OFF
  Valid Values	OFF ON STRICT

  Controls whether to enable FIPS mode on the client side. The --ssl-fips-mode option differs from other --ssl-xxx options in that it is not used to establish encrypted connections, but rather to affect which cryptographic operations to permit. See Section 8.8, “FIPS Support”.

  These --ssl-fips-mode values are permitted:

  • OFF: Disable FIPS mode.

  • ON: Enable FIPS mode.

  • STRICT: Enable “strict” FIPS mode.

  Note

  If the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module is not available, the only permitted value for --ssl-fips-mode is OFF. In this case, setting --ssl-fips-mode to ON or STRICT causes the client to produce a warning at startup and to operate in non-FIPS mode.

  This option is deprecated. Expect it to be removed in a future version of MySQL.

• --tls-ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list

  Command-Line Format	--tls-ciphersuites=ciphersuite_list
  Type	String

  The permissible ciphersuites for encrypted connections that use TLSv1.3. The value is a list of one or more colon-separated ciphersuite names. The ciphersuites that can be named for this option depend on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. For details, see Section 8.3.2, “Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers”.

• --tls-sni-servername=server_name

  Command-Line Format	--tls-sni-servername=server_name
  Type	String

  When specified, the name is passed to the libmysqlclient C API library using the MYSQL_OPT_TLS_SNI_SERVERNAME option of mysql_options(). The server name is not case-sensitive. To show which server name the client specified for the current session, if any, check the Tls_sni_server_name status variable.

  Server Name Indication (SNI) is an extension to the TLS protocol (OpenSSL must be compiled using TLS extensions for this option to function). The MySQL implementation of SNI represents the client-side only.

• --tls-version=protocol_list

  Command-Line Format	--tls-version=protocol_list
  Type	String
  Default Value	TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 (OpenSSL 1.1.1 or higher) TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2 (otherwise)

  The permissible TLS protocols for encrypted connections. The value is a list of one or more comma-separated protocol names. The protocols that can be named for this option depend on the SSL library used to compile MySQL. For details, see Section 8.3.2, “Encrypted Connection TLS Protocols and Ciphers”.

• --use-default

  Command-Line Format	--use-default
  Type	Boolean

  Execute noninteractively. This option can be used for unattended installation operations.

• --user=user_name, -u user_name

  Command-Line Format	--user=user_name
  Type	String

  The user name of the MySQL account to use for connecting to the server.