MySQL is a free and open-source relational database management system for Linux-based operating systems. MySQL is the most widely used database system and is used for many open-source projects and high availability systems. If your server is running the older version of MySQL 5.7, then it is recommended to install MySQL 8 to use newly released features.
Some of the new features introduced in MySQL 8 are listed below:
- Data dictionary and upgrade
- Persistent runtime configuration
- Supports Windows functions
- JSON improvements
- Security and account management
- Resource and table encryption management
- Atomic DDL statement support
In this tutorial, we will explain how to install MySQL 8 on Ubuntu 18.04.
Prerequisites
- A fresh Ubuntu 18.04 VPS on the Atlantic.Net Cloud Platform.
- A root password configured on your server.
Step 1 – Create Atlantic.Net Cloud Server
First, log in to your Atlantic.Net Cloud Server. Create a new server, choosing Ubuntu 18.04 as the operating system with at least 1GB RAM. Connect to your Cloud Server via SSH and log in using the credentials highlighted at the top of the page.
Once you are logged into your Ubuntu 18.04 server, run the following command to update your base system with the latest available packages.
apt-get update -y
Step 2 – Install MySQL 8 Repository
By default, MySQL 8 is not available in the Ubuntu 18.04 default repository, so you will need to add the MySQL 8 repository in your system.
First, download the repository package with the following command:
wget -c https://repo.mysql.com//mysql-apt-config_0.8.13-1_all.deb
Once downloaded, install the downloaded package with the following command:
dpkg -i mysql-apt-config_0.8.13-1_all.deb
During the installation process, you will be asked to choose the MySQL version as shown in the following screen:
Scroll down, select Ok and hit Enter to finish the installation.
Step 3 – Install MySQL 8
Next, update the repository with the following command:
apt-get update -y
Once the repository is updated, run the following command to install MySQL 8 in your system.
apt-get install mysql-server -y
During the installation process, you will be asked to set the MySQL root password as shown below:
Next, you will need to select the default authentication plugin for MySQL as shown below:
Select “Use Strong Password Encryption” and hit Enter to finish the installation.
Next, you can verify the installed version of the MySQL with the following command:
mysql -V
You should get the following output:
mysql Ver 8.0.19 for Linux on x86_64 (MySQL Community Server - GPL)
Step 4 – Manage MySQL Service
You can manage the MySQL service with the systemctl utility.
To start the MySQL service, run the following command:
systemctl start mysql
To enable the MySQL service to start after a system reboot, run the following command:
systemctl enable mysql
To check the status of the MySQL service, run the following command:
systemctl status mysql
Output:
Step 5 – Secure MySQL Installation
It is also recommended to secure the MySQL installation and set the MySQL root password. You can do it using the mysql_secure_installation script:
mysql_secure_installation
You will be asked to provide your current root MySQL password as shown below:
Securing the MySQL server deployment. Enter password for user root:
Provide your root password and hit Enter. You will be asked to validate the password to improve security as shown below:
Type Y and hit Enter to check the password strength as shown below:
Here, you can select your desired password strength and hit Enter to continue:
Estimated strength of the password: 100 Change the password for root ? ((Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y
Type Y and hit Enter to change the password to one with the selected password strength:
New password: Re-enter new password:
Type your new password and hit Enter to continue. You should see the following output:
Estimated strength of the password: 100 Do you wish to continue with the password provided?(Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y
Type Y and hit Enter to continue with your provided password as shown below:
By default, a MySQL installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone to log into MySQL without having to have a user account created for them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a production environment. Remove anonymous users? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y Success.
Next, type Y and hit Enter to remove the anonymous user. You should see the following output:
Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network. Disallow root login remotely? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y
Next, type Y and hit Enter to disallow root login from the remote machine. You should see the following output:
By default, MySQL comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed before moving into a production environment. Remove test database and access to it? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y
Type Y and hit Enter to remove the test database. You should see the following output:
- Dropping test database... Success. - Removing privileges on test database... Success. Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far will take effect immediately. Reload privilege tables now? (Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : Y
Finally, type Y and hit Enter to reload the privileges tables.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully installed and secured MySQL 8 on Ubuntu 18.04. You can now connect to MySQL and create a database, user, or table and integrate it with many applications. Get started with MySQL today on VPS Hosting from Atlantic.Net!
