connecting to database

EyeSight

hey guys i've bought a domain recently and just today they have given me an sql database. they've given me a link to where the database log-in is(e.g. www.DOMAIN_SITE.ie/mysql_admin) aswell as my log-in details
it all works but when i log in i just get alot of options for configuring my database
all i want to do is log in via a terminal and use that to type in mysql commands and also to run php scripts on my website which can query my database
in college i do this on a terminal by ssh into the college server and using 'mysql -u USERNAME -p'
but somehow i assume this is different. can anyone help me? i'm assuming this is just a standard thing with all web domains but i have never used my own web domain for this before. i have contacted customer service of the domain-sellers but they have yet to get back to me and i need this urgently

Thanks in advance, hope i'm making sense

ressem

Depending on what package you got, and with which particular hosting provider, more likely than not you don't have permission to use an ssh terminal on the server.

If the firewalls between allow port 3306, you could try
mysql -h www.DOMAIN_SITE.ie -u username -p

or more likely something like dbserver.DOMAIN_SITE.ie, as usually the database server is located on a different machine.

from the mysql client's bin directory on your own computer.
That'll try to connect to the mysql server at domain_site.

Regarding the php scripts, it's likely that you'll have to upload them to the website's public_html directory using FTP and call them using your browser.

EyeSight

thanks. i've been trying to guess the name of their server but to no avail. however when i use this line:
mysql -h www.DOMAIN_SITE.ie -u username -p
it prompts me for my password and i type it in and hit return and nothing happens. i have to ctrl+c
yet when i try something like:
mysql -h dbserver.DOMAIN_SITE.ie -u username -p
it explicitly tells me there's no such server
i guess i'll just have to wait for their customer service to get back to me. but just to be sure, is it a common thing to do what i want to do here?

EDIT: on the phpMyAdmin page they gave me a link to it seems they have a text box to allow me to execute queries(i prefer a terminal screen) and they say somewhere on it that the server is localhost? don't know if this helps

ressem

Sorry, I gave you the incorrect address. By dbserver.DOMAIN_SITE.ie I meant the database server that your ISP or control panel might have told you to use in a setup email.

This could be an IP address, but as you're connecting to localhost when you use phpMyAdmin, then that would suggest that you need to use

mysql -h www.DOMAIN_SITE.ie -u username -p

But if that is failing to return a mysql> prompt to you, maybe you have to have a database created using the web interface, then connect to it using

mysql -h www.DOMAIN_SITE.ie -u username -D db_name -p

Most won't allow you to use the CREATE DATABASE command except from the web interface.

EyeSight

hey i just got this reply from them:
"at this time we do not offer remote MySql command line
connections. We only allow access via the MySql-Admin [secure] web
pages. This is a security measure to reduce the risk of the databases
being hacked"
so is there any point in me having a database then? because i dont see how i can get my php programs to connect to it via the MySql-Admin. i think its a very lame excuse they give? why would a professional web hosting company not give a service like this for fear of hacking?

NeverSayDie

EyeSight wrote: »

hey i just got this reply from them:
"at this time we do not offer remote MySql command line
connections. We only allow access via the MySql-Admin [secure] web
pages. This is a security measure to reduce the risk of the databases
being hacked"
so is there any point in me having a database then? because i dont see how i can get my php programs to connect to it via the MySql-Admin. i think its a very lame excuse they give? why would a professional web hosting company not give a service like this for fear of hacking?

See highlighted bit. Your PHP scripts are presumably not running remotely, so you should be fine.

fasty

It's pretty standard practice to allow local only MySQL access like this.

If you want to develop your site locally, install MySQL on your computer or use something like WAMP/LAMP which packages Apache, PHP and MySQL for you to make development easier.

cython

EyeSight wrote: »

hey i just got this reply from them:
"at this time we do not offer remote MySql command line
connections. We only allow access via the MySql-Admin [secure] web
pages. This is a security measure to reduce the risk of the databases
being hacked"
so is there any point in me having a database then? because i dont see how i can get my php programs to connect to it via the MySql-Admin. i think its a very lame excuse they give? why would a professional web hosting company not give a service like this for fear of hacking?

As to the bit in bold, your PHP programs should not be connecting via the command line, nor via mysql-admin, rather they should be using the inbuilt functions that open a socket connection to the database. In fact, this is what the admin package likely does in its backend, at least it would be the standard way for it to do it.

EyeSight

ok now i understand. when i asked them i did mention i wanted to use it for both remote use and for php access. what i didn't realise was that i for the host paramater in the php function i just use "localhost".
thanks for the help. had i known this last friday i would have saved myself so much time

paul.mcguinness

Yes while the database is installed on the same machine you can use localhost, simply changing this when moving the database server to an external machine.