> ## Documentation Index
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> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connecting to MySQL using Python

> Discover three ways to connect to a Python MySQL database with step-by-step instructions, code snippets, and links to related articles.

Python provides several ways to connect to a MySQL database and process data. This article describes three methods.

<Tip>
  The MySQL databases and users must already exist before you can use any of the following methods. For information about how to manage MySQL databases using cPanel, please see [this article](/docs/managing-mysql-databases).
</Tip>

## Connecting to MySQL using Python

Before you can access MySQL databases using Python, you must install one (or more) of the following packages in a virtual environment:

* *mysqlclient*: This package contains the **MySQLdb** module. It is written in C, and is one of the most commonly used Python packages for MySQL.

* *mysql-connector-python*: This package contains the **mysql.connector** module. It is written entirely in Python.

* *PyMySQL*: This package contains the **pymysql** module. It is written entirely in Python.

All three of these packages use [Python's portable SQL database API](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249/). This means that if you switch from one module to another, you can reuse almost all of your existing code (the code sample below demonstrates how to do this).

### Setting up the Python virtual environment and installing a MySQL package

To set up the Python virtual environment and install a MySQL package, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your account [using SSH](/docs/using-ssh-secure-shell).

2. At the command prompt, type the following command:

   ```bash theme={null}
   cd ~
   ```

3. To create a virtual environment, type one of the following commands:

   * If you are running Python **3.x**, type the following command:

     ```bash theme={null}
     python3 -m venv sqlenv
     ```

   * If you are running Python **2.x**, type the following command:

     ```bash theme={null}
     virtualenv sqlenv
     ```

   > 📘 Note
   >
   > Subsequent commands in this procedure assume that the environment is named *sqlenv*. You can use any environment name you want, but make sure you replace all occurrences of *sqlenv* with your own environment name.

4. To activate the virtual environment, type the following command:

   ```bash theme={null}
   source sqlenv/bin/activate
   ```

   > 📘 Note
   >
   > The command prompt now starts with **(sqlenv)** to indicate that you are working in a Python virtual environment. All of the following commands in this procedure assume that you are working within the virtual environment. If you log out of your SSH session (or deactivate the virtual environment by using the **deactivate** command), make sure you reactivate the virtual environment before following the steps below and running the sample code.

5. To update *pip* in the virtual environment, type the following command:

   ```bash theme={null}
   pip install -U pip
   ```

6. Type the command for the package you want to install:

   * To install the *mysqlclient* package, type the following command:

     ```bash theme={null}
     pip install mysqlclient
     ```

   * To install the *mysql-connector-python* package, type the following command:

     ```bash theme={null}
     pip install mysql-connector-python
     ```

   * To install the *pymysql* package, type the following command:

     ```bash theme={null}
     pip install pymysql
     ```

### Code sample

After you install a MySQL package in the virtual environment, you are ready to work with actual databases. The following sample Python code demonstrates how to do this, as well as just how easy it is to switch between the different SQL package implementations. The sample code works with Python 2.7 and Python 3.x.

In your own code, replace ***username*** with the MySQL database username, ***password*** with the database user's password, and ***dbname*** with the database name:

```python theme={null}
#!/usr/bin/python

from __future__ import print_function

hostname = 'localhost'
username = 'username'
password = 'password'
database = 'dbname'

## Simple routine to run a query on a database and print the results:
def doQuery( conn ):
    cur = conn.cursor()

    cur.execute( "SELECT fname, lname FROM employee" )

    for firstname, lastname in cur.fetchall():
        print( firstname, lastname )

print( "Using mysqlclient (MySQLdb):" )
import MySQLdb
myConnection = MySQLdb.connect( host=hostname, user=username, passwd=password, db=database )
doQuery( myConnection )
myConnection.close()

print( "Using mysql.connector:" )
import mysql.connector
myConnection = mysql.connector.connect( host=hostname, user=username, passwd=password, db=database )
doQuery( myConnection )
myConnection.close()

print( "Using pymysql:" )
import pymysql
myConnection = pymysql.connect( host=hostname, user=username, passwd=password, db=database )
doQuery( myConnection )
myConnection.close()
```

This example creates a series of **Connection** objects that opens the same database using different MySQL modules. Because all three MySQL modules use the portable SQL database API interface, they are able to use the code in the **doQuery()** function without any modifications.

When you have a **Connection** object associated with a database, you can create a **Cursor** object. The **Cursor** object enables you to run the **execute()** method, which in turn enables you to run raw SQL statements (in this case, a *SELECT* query on a table named *employee*).

<Note>
  * As you can see, Python's portable SQL database API makes it very easy to switch between MySQL modules in your code. In the sample above, the only code changes necessary to use a different module are to the **import** and **connect** statements.

  * If you are running an application that you created in the [cPanel Python Selector](/docs/using-the-python-selector), you may have to change the first line of the code above. Instead of using **#!/usr/bin/python** to invoke the interpreter, make sure the path references the Python executable in the virtual environment. For example:

  ```
  #!/home/username/virtualenv/test/3.11/bin/python
  ```
</Note>

## More information

* For more information about Python's portable SQL database API, please visit [https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249).

* For more information about the *mysqlclient* package, please visit [https://pypi.org/project/mysqlclient](https://pypi.org/project/mysqlclient).

* For more information about the *mysql-connector-python* package, please visit [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/mysql-connector-python](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/mysql-connector-python).

* For more information about the *PyMySQL* package, please visit [https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyMySQL](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyMySQL).

## Related articles

* [Using virtualenv and pip](/docs/using-virtualenv-and-pip)

* [Connecting to MySQL from the command line](/docs/connect-to-mysql-from-the-command-line)

* [Connecting to MySQL using PHP](/docs/connect-to-mysql-using-php)

* [Connecting to MySQL using Microsoft.NET](/docs/connecting-to-mysql-using-microsoft-net)

* [Managing MySQL databases, users, and tables from the command line](/docs/managing-mysql-databases-and-users-from-the-command-line)