Connecting to and Disconnecting from the Server
To connect to the server, you’ll usually need to provide a MySQL username when you invoke mysql and, most likely, a password. If the server runs on a machine other than the one where you log in, you’ll also need to specify a hostname. Contact your administrator to find out what connection parameters you should use to connect (that is, what host, username, and password to use). Once you know the proper parameters, you should be able to connect like this:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p
Enter password: ****
host and user represent the hostname where your MySQL server is running and the username of your MySQL account. Substitute appropriate values for your setup. The **** represents your password; enter it when mysql displays the Enter password: prompt.
If that works, you should see some introductory information followed by a mysql> prompt:
shell> mysql -h host -u user -p Enter password: **** Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g. Your MySQL connection id is 25338 to server version: 4.0.14-log
Type ‘help;’ or ‘\h’ for help. Type ‘\c’ to clear the buffer.
mysql>
The prompt tells you that mysql is ready for you to enter commands.
Some MySQL installations allow users to connect as the anonymous (unnamed) user to the server running on the local host. If this is the case on your machine, you should be able to connect to that server by invoking mysql without any options:
shell> mysql
After you have connected successfully, you can disconnect any time by typing QUIT (or \q) at the mysql> prompt:
mysql> QUIT Bye
On Unix, you can also disconnect by pressing Control-D.
Most examples in the following sections assume you are connected to the server. They indicate this by the mysql> prompt.