How to Configure a MySQL Database
MySQL (My Structured Query Language) is an open-source database management system. It is a convenient way for you to store, access and managing your content in a database. In this guide, we’ll help you understand what is MySQL, guide you on how to set up MySQL database, and how to add a user in a database.
So let’s get started.
What is MySQL
MySQL is where data or information for your website is stored. However, in order to access data from MySQL, your system needs a computer language such as Java, Perl, Python, and PHP.
You can use database to:
- Store data and provide facilities (tools) to search for specific records in a given set of data.
- Store special information used to manage the data. This information is called metadata and it is not shown to all the people looking at the data.
- Solve cases where many users want to access (and possibly change) the same entries of data.
- Manage access rights (who is allowed to see the data, who can change it)
- When there are many users asking questions to the database, the questions must be answered faster. In this way, the last person to ask a question can get an answer in a reasonable time.
- Certain attributes are more important than others and can be used to find other data. This is called indexing. An index contains all the important data and can be used to find other data.
Now that we have the basic background of MySQL we can start creating a MySQL Database. But if you want to learn more about MySQL you can read it here on our guide What Is a MySQL.
Important: The number of MySQL databases that you can have depends on your Web Hosting plan. Each of our Web Hosting plans has different limits, but they can be upgraded at any time within your Account Manager.
How to Create a MySQL Database
If you are setting up a web-based application, such as a bulletin board, a blog, or an online shop, you will need a MySQL database to store the web files. There are two ways you can create a MySQL database, via MySQL Databases or via MySQL Database Wizard. Follow the steps below:
If via MySQL Database
| Step 1. | Access your Hosting Manager. |
| Step 2. | Scroll down to the Database tab, then click the MySQL Database option. |
| Step 3. | Under Create New Database, enter your new database name and click the Create Database button. |
| Step 4. | A confirmation will appear that your database is successfully created. Click the Go Back button to return to the MySQL Database page. |
If via MySQL Database Wizard
| Step 1. | Access your Hosting Manager. |
| Step 2. | Scroll down to the Database tab, then click the MySQL Database Wizard option. |
| Step 3. | On the MySQL Database Wizard page, enter your database name in the field. |
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If you’re using the wizard to setup your database, click this link to directly jump into the section to create a user using the MySQL Database Wizard option.
Creating a user in your database allows them to read, write, or modify data in that database. You can do both of these by following the steps below.
How to Create User in MySQL Database
The same way how we create a MySQL Database. You can create a database and user using either the MySQL Databases or MySQL Database Wizard. We’ll show you how.
If via MySQL Database
| Step 1. | Access your Hosting Manager. |
| Step 2. | Scroll down to the Database tab, then click the MySQL Database Wizard option.. |
| Step 3. | On MySQL Database page, scroll down to MySQL Users section. |
| Step 4. | Under Add New User, enter information to the following: |
| Username | This is the new privileged user’s name. |
| Password | This will serve as the key that will enable you to access your MySQL database. The system will tell you how weak or strong your password is when you type it in the appropriate fields.
If you find it difficult to make a strong enough password for your email, you can let the system create one for you. Click the Password Generator button. In the pop-up box, copy the generated password and paste that in the Password fields. You can also choose to check I have copied this password in a safe place. Then, click Use Password. This will automatically copy and paste the generated password in the Password fields. Important: Make sure you have actually saved the generated password in a safe and easy to recall place. |
| Password (Again) | This is only for confirmation and should be the same as in the Password field above. |
| Step 5. | Click the Create User button. |
If via MySQL Database Wizard
Once you’re done creating your database, then you’re ready to continue to next step.
| Step 1. | Enter information to the following: |
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| Username | This is the new privileged user’s name. |
| Password | This will serve as the key that will enable you to access your MySQL database. The system will tell you how weak or strong your password is when you type it in the appropriate fields.
If you find it difficult to make a strong enough password for your email, you can let the system create one for you. Click the Password Generator button. In the pop-up box, copy the generated password and paste that in the Password fields. You can also choose to check I have copied this password in a safe place. Then, click Use Password. This will automatically copy and paste the generated password in the Password fields. Important: Make sure you have actually saved the generated password in a safe and easy to recall place. |
| Password (Again) | This is only for confirmation and should be the same as in the Password field above. |
| Step 2. | Create the Create User button. |
| Step 3. | On the next page, you can assign privileges to the user to what they can do to the database or click All Privileges to give the user permission to do everything on the list. Then, click the Next Step button. |
| Step 4. | A confirmation message will appear once you successfully set up your database. You can opt to click Add another database, Add another user for your MySQL database to continue setting up, or Return to MySQL Databases. |
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Congratulations! You’ve successfully added a user to MySQL Database via Wizard setup. If you need any further assistance or if you have any questions, please let us know. We’d love to help!