---
slug: /en/interfaces/mysql
sidebar_position: 20
sidebar_label: MySQL Interface
---

# MySQL Interface

ClickHouse supports the MySQL wire protocol. This allow tools that are MySQL-compatible to interact with ClickHouse seamlessly (e.g. [Looker Studio](../integrations/data-visualization/looker-studio-and-clickhouse.md)).

## Enabling the MySQL Interface On ClickHouse Cloud

1. After creating your ClickHouse Cloud Service, on the credentials screen, select the MySQL tab

![Credentials screen - Prompt](./images/mysql1.png)

2. Toggle the switch to enable the MySQL interface for this specific service. This will expose port `3306` for this service and prompt you with your MySQL connection screen that include your unique MySQL username. The password will be the same as the service's default user password.

![Credentials screen - Enabled MySQL](./images/mysql2.png)

Alternatively, in order to enable the MySQL interface for an existing service:

1. Ensure your service is in `Running` state then click on the "View connection string" button for the service you want to enable the MySQL interface for

![Connection screen - Prompt MySQL](./images/mysql3.png)

2. Toggle the switch to enable the MySQL interface for this specific service. This will prompt you to enter the default password.

![Connection screen - Prompt MySQL](./images/mysql4.png)

3. After entering the password, you will get prompted the MySQL connection string for this service
![Connection screen -  MySQL Enabled](./images/mysql5.png)

## Creating multiple MySQL users in ClickHouse Cloud

By default, there is a built-in `mysql4<subdomain>` user, which uses the same password as the `default` one. The `<subdomain>` part is the first segment of your ClickHouse Cloud hostname. This format is necessary to work with the tools that implement secure connection, but don't provide [SNI information in their TLS handshake](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-sni), which makes it impossible to do the internal routing without an extra hint in the username (MySQL console client is one of such tools).

Because of this, we _highly recommend_ following the `mysql4<subdomain>_<username>` format when creating a new user intended to be used with the MySQL interface, where `<subdomain>` is a hint to identify your Cloud service, and `<username>` is an arbitrary suffix of your choice.

:::tip
For ClickHouse Cloud hostname like `foobar.us-east1.aws.clickhouse.cloud`, the `<subdomain>` part equals to `foobar`, and a custom MySQL username could look like `mysql4foobar_team1`.
:::

You can create extra users to use with the MySQL interface if, for example, you need to apply extra settings.

1. Optional - create a [settings profile](https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/sql-reference/statements/create/settings-profile) to apply for your custom user. For example, `my_custom_profile` with an extra setting which will be applied by default when we connect with the user we create later:

    ```sql
    CREATE SETTINGS PROFILE my_custom_profile SETTINGS prefer_column_name_to_alias=1;
    ```

    `prefer_column_name_to_alias` is used just as an example, you can use other settings there.
2. [Create a user](https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/sql-reference/statements/create/user) using the following format: `mysql4<subdomain>_<username>` ([see above](#creating-multiple-mysql-users-in-clickhouse-cloud)). The password must be in double SHA1 format. For example:

    ```sql
    CREATE USER mysql4foobar_team1 IDENTIFIED WITH double_sha1_password BY 'YourPassword42$';
    ```

    or if you want to use a custom profile for this user:

    ```sql
    CREATE USER mysql4foobar_team1 IDENTIFIED WITH double_sha1_password BY 'YourPassword42$' SETTINGS PROFILE 'my_custom_profile';
    ```

    where `my_custom_profile` is the name of the profile you created earlier.
3. [Grant](https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/sql-reference/statements/grant) the new user the necessary permissions to interact with the desired tables or databases. For example, if you want to grant access to `system.query_log` only:

    ```sql
    GRANT SELECT ON system.query_log TO mysql4foobar_team1;
    ```

4. Use the created user to connect to your ClickHouse Cloud service with the MySQL interface.

### Troubleshooting multiple MySQL users in ClickHouse Cloud

If you created a new MySQL user, and you see the following error while connecting via MySQL CLI client:

```
ERROR 2013 (HY000): Lost connection to MySQL server at 'reading authorization packet', system error: 54
```

In this case, ensure that the username follows the `mysql4<subdomain>_<username>` format, as described ([above](#creating-multiple-mysql-users-in-clickhouse-cloud)).

## Enabling the MySQL Interface On Self-managed ClickHouse

Add the [mysql_port](../operations/server-configuration-parameters/settings.md#server_configuration_parameters-mysql_port) setting to your server's configuration file. For example, you could define the port in a new XML file in your `config.d/` [folder](../operations/configuration-files):

``` xml
<clickhouse>
    <mysql_port>9004</mysql_port>
</clickhouse>
```

Startup your ClickHouse server and look for a log message similar to the following that mentions Listening for MySQL compatibility protocol:

```
{} <Information> Application: Listening for MySQL compatibility protocol: 127.0.0.1:9004
```

## Connect MySQL to ClickHouse

The following command demonstrates how to connect the MySQL client `mysql` to ClickHouse:

```bash
mysql --protocol tcp -h [hostname] -u [username] -P [port_number] [database_name]
```

For example:

``` bash
$ mysql --protocol tcp -h 127.0.0.1 -u default -P 9004 default
```

Output if a connection succeeded:

``` text
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 4
Server version: 20.2.1.1-ClickHouse

Copyright (c) 2000, 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql>
```

For compatibility with all MySQL clients, it is recommended to specify user password with [double SHA1](../operations/settings/settings-users.md#password_double_sha1_hex) in configuration file.
If user password is specified using [SHA256](../operations/settings/settings-users.md#password_sha256_hex), some clients won’t be able to authenticate (mysqljs and old versions of command-line tool MySQL and MariaDB).

Restrictions:

- prepared queries are not supported

- some data types are sent as strings

To cancel a long query use `KILL QUERY connection_id` statement (it is replaced with `KILL QUERY WHERE query_id = connection_id` while proceeding). For example:

``` bash
$ mysql --protocol tcp -h mysql_server -P 9004 default -u default --password=123 -e "KILL QUERY 123456;"
```