MySQL remote access on local network giving authentication error

Question

I can access my MySQL server on my remote Ubuntu 10.04 machine downstairs (local network) just fine through SSH, and when I sudo in to MySQL monitor using the MySQL password, I can modify any of the tables.

However, I am on my Windows 7 box upstairs, and when I try to use a conventional SQL GUI application, I consistently get a:

1045 - Access denied for user 'root'@'COMPUTERNAME' (using password: YES)

I've also tried to use an SSH tunnel and then access the server, but no dice. Same authentication error. I've double, triple checked my password and still nothing.

Also, the bind address in my.cnf is set to 0.0.0.0 (and previously I had it commented out). Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Take a look at the users table in the MySQL database. The "root" user is probably only allowed access from localhost. You can add more hosts if you like or add % to allow every host to connect to your database.

MySQL basically contains a simple firewall inside the database. This is annoying from time-to-time since firewalling should be the concern of the operating system or some piece of hardware, but not the database (just my two cents).