> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Setting up a remote MySQL connection

> Connect to your MySQL databases on Hosting.com from Windows, Mac, or Linux with this easy guide.

This article describes how to use a local computer to connect to your MySQL databases stored remotely on hosting.com servers.

## Choose a remote MySQL connection method

You can use either of the following methods to access your MySQL databases remotely:

* **SSH tunnel:** This is the more secure method. You set up an SSH tunnel that forwards a port on your local computer to the remote MySQL server. The MySQL traffic is encrypted by the SSH tunnel.

* **Direct connection:** You can set up a direct connection between your local computer and the remote MySQL server. Although this method is easier to configure, it is not as secure. Additionally, your local site must have a dedicated (static) IP address. A local site using a dynamic IP address will lose MySQL access when a new IP address is assigned.
  > 🚧 Important
  >
  > If you want to use a direct connection, please open a support ticket at [https://my.hosting.com](https://my.hosting.com) . In the ticket, specify that you want to enable inbound access to MySQL port 3306 for your account.

After you have set up a remote MySQL connection, you can use a MySQL client application to manage your databases. For more information, please see [this article](/docs/mysql-client-applications).

## Method #1: Set up an SSH tunnel

The procedure you follow to set up an SSH tunnel between your local computer and the hosting.com server depends on the local computer's operating system.

### Microsoft Windows

In order to use an SSH tunnel on a computer running Microsoft Windows, you need an SSH client program. hosting.com recommends using PuTTY, which you can [download here](http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.exe). After you have downloaded the PuTTY executable to your local computer, you can set up an SSH tunnel.

To set up an SSH tunnel on a computer running Microsoft Windows:

1. Start PuTTY.

2. In the **Category** pane, expand **Connection**, expand **SSH**, and then click **Tunnels**.

3. In the **Source port** text box of the **Port Forwarding** section, type `3306`.  This is the local port to forward.In the **Destination** text box, type `localhost:3306`.

4. Confirm that the **Local** and **Auto** radio buttons are selected.

5. Click **Add**:\
   ![Putty configuration window for tunnel.](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-tunnel-settings.png)

6. In the **Category** pane, click **Session**.

7. In the **Host Name (or IP address)** text box, type your web site's domain name or IP address.

8. In the **Port** text box, type `22`.
   > 🚧 Important
   >
   > Make sure you use the correct SSH port number for your account. For example, some hosting accounts use a different port for SSH, such as 7822.

9. Confirm that the **Connection type** radio button is set to **SSH**.

10. Click **Open**:\
    ![Putty configuration panel for session.](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-session-settings.png)

11. If a PuTTY security alert about the server's host key appears, click **Yes**.

12. When the **login as** prompt appears, type your hosting.com username, and then type your password.

13. When the remote server's command line prompt appears, the SSH tunnel is established and you can use your MySQL client applications on the local computer.

    > 👍 Tip
    >
    > To verify that PuTTY is forwarding ports correctly, you can click the icon in the top-left corner of the PuTTY session window, and then click **Event Log**. If port forwarding is working correctly, you see a line similar to: **Local port 3306 forwarding to localhost:3306**

### macOS and Linux

To establish an SSH tunnel on a computer running macOS or Linux:

1. Open a terminal window and type the following command at the command line. Replace ***username*** with your hosting.com username, and replace ***example.com*** with your site's domain name:

   ```shell theme={null}
   ssh username@example.com -L 3306:localhost:3306
   ```

   > 🚧 Important
   >
   > To use a different port number, use the **-p** option. For example:
   >
   > ```bash theme={null}
   > ssh -p 7822 username@example.com -L 3306:localhost:3306
   > ```

2. Type your password, and then press Enter. When the remote server's command line prompt appears, the SSH tunnel is established and you can use your MySQL client applications on the local computer.

## Method #2: Set up a direct connection

To set up a direct connection between your local computer and the MySQL server, you must first do three things:

* Confirm you will be connecting from a dedicated (static) IP address. If you have a dynamic IP address, such as those commonly provided by Internet Service Providers, you will lose access to MySQL when the IP address changes (for example, after a router reboot).

* Open a support ticket at [https://my.hosting.com](https://my.hosting.com). In the ticket, specify that you want to enable inbound access to MySQL port 3306 for your account.

* Enable remote MySQL access for your IP address in cPanel. For information about how to do this, please see [this article](/docs/remote-mysql-access).

## Example ODBC connection

The following procedure demonstrates how to configure a remote ODBC connection:

1. Launch the ODBC Data Source Administrator.

2. Click **Add** to add a new data source.

3. In the **Create New Data Source** dialog box, click the MySQL ODBC driver.

4. Click **Finish** to start the MySQL Connector/ODBC Data Source Configuration.

5. On the **MySQL Connector/ODBC Data Source Configuration** dialog box, in the **Data Source Name** text box, type a descriptive name for the data source:\
   ![ODBC Data Source Configuration - Data Source Name](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-odbc-data-source-name.png)

6. Confirm that **TCP/IP Server** is selected.

7. Do one of the following:

   * If you are using an SSH tunnel, in the **TCP/IP Server** text box, type `localhost`.

   * If you are using a direct connection, in the **TCP/IP Server** text box, type the domain or IP address of the remote server:\
     ![ODBC Data Source Configuration - Server](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-odbc-server.png)

8. In the **Port** text box, type `3306`.

9. In the **User** text box, type a database username that can connect to the remote database.

10. In the **Password** text box, type the password for the username.

11. To test the connection, click **Test**.

12. Optionally, you can use the **Database** list box to select an initial database for the connection.

13. To complete the configuration, click **OK**.

## Troubleshooting

If you are doing development work on the local computer, a local copy of MySQL may already be running on port 3306. In this case, the following connection error appears:\
![Error message with local port conflict.](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-fail-with-local-mysql.png)

To work around this issue, create a tunnel with an alternate local port, and then connect to the remote MySQL server on that port.

1. If you use Putty to create the tunnel, use an alternate **Source port** on the **Tunnels** configuration page. In this example, port **3307** is being used:\
   ![Putty tunnel configuration with alternate port.](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-tunnel-3307.png)

The session configuration does not change.

2. For macOS or Linux, use the following SSH command to create the tunnel with a local port of 3307. Replace ***username*** with your hosting.com username, and replace ***example.com*** with your site's domain name:

   ```bash theme={null}
   ssh username@example.com -L 3307:localhost:3306
   ```

   > 🚧 Important
   >
   > To use a different port number, use the **-p** option. For example:
   >
   > ```bash theme={null}
   > ssh -p 7822 username@example.com -L 3307:localhost:3306
   > ```

3. Create the ODBC connection as previously described, but type `3307` in the **Port** text box (instead of **3306** ):\
   ![Dialog box for MySQL Connector/ODBC Data Source Configuration with alternate port.](https://static.hosting.com/kb/kb-mysql-remote-odbc-3307.png)

4. You should now be able to connect.

## More information

To view the online documentation for PuTTY, please visit [http://the.earth.li/\~sgtatham/putty/0.60/htmldoc/index.html](http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.60/htmldoc/index.html).

## Related articles

* [MySQL client applications](/docs/mysql-client-applications)

* [Configuring remote MySQL access](/docs/remote-mysql-access)

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

* [Importing and exporting a MySQL database](/docs/import-and-export-a-mysql-database)

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