Are you looking to allow remote connections to your MySQL server? See how you can accomplish that task when on a Magento Plan/Flex Cloud Plan from Nexcess.
Step #1: Log in to your Nexcess Client Portal and then navigate to the Control Panel page.
Step #2: Launch the SiteWorx Control Panel and then submit the IP address to whitelist.
To find out what your IP address, you can check it by navigating to https://ipv4.nexcess.net.
Are you looking to allow remote connections to your MySQL server? See how you can easily accomplish that task when on a Magento Plan or Flexible Cloud Plan from Nexcess.
If you are on a Magento Plan or Flexible Cloud Plan, you can remotely connect to the MySQL server by allowing an IP address via the IP whitelisting process using the Cloud SiteWorx Control Panel.
Connections to remote databases are an essential requirement for many projects. However, on Nexcess servers, remote connections to MySQL are not allowed due to security risks inherent in servers and applications. Due to this policy, all IP addresses are blocked by default.
The purpose of allowing remote MySQL connections is to enable a computer program to access a database on the server. Remote connections are possible with MySQL Workbench or Adobe Dreamweaver or Navicat clients for the MySQL database platform.
Trying to connect to a remote MySQL database can be frustrating if your MySQL instance is only configured to listen for local connections. Although, this is MySQL’s default setting, to allow a remote connection, you must whitelist the IP address for which you want to define connections. If you are using MySQL over SSH, you do not need to whitelist IP addresses.
Please note that this MySQL whitelist IP method only applies to Nexcess clients using Magento Plan Plans and Flex Cloud Plans. If you use Managed WordPress or Managed WooCommerce please get in touch with our 24/7 support team by email or through the Client Portal assistance.
Here is a short list of needed items:
Your Client Portal login credentials, click the Forgot Password? link on the login page if you cannot locate them.
An existing Nexcess Cloud account using Flexible plan or Magento Plan. See the How to create Nexcess Cloud accounts article for more information.
By default, all IPs are blocked and must be whitelisted. To find out what your IP address is, you can check it by navigating to https://ipv4.nexcess.net.
To start the IP whitelisting process, log in to you Nexcess Client Portal.
Starting with a new hosting partner can be overwhelming. For that exact reason, we have prepared a Nexcess Portal Guide to make each client’s introduction to our Nexcess Portal easier.
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The first thing to do is to navigate to Control Panel page as demonstrated in the video snippet below:
Then, click on the Plans option from the menu on the left side of the screen:
Either click the name of your Magento Plan / Flexible Cloud Plan service, or select Plan Dashboard from the menu toggle:
From the dashboard, select Menu > Control Panel:
Click the Launch Control Panel button:
Your browser will redirect you to the Cloud SiteWorx Control Panel home page:
Here is a short list of steps needed to submit your IP address to the whitelist.
From the SiteWorx main menu, click Hosting Features > Firewall Rules.
In the MySQL Whitelist IP Address field, add the IP address to the whitelist or click on the Whitelist My Current IP button to exercise that option. This option fetches your IP address automatically, and if the IP address is correct, click Submit:
If you have multiple IP addresses, repeat the process.
Please be sure to whitelist your IP address for incoming and outgoing traffic.
How do I find my computer's IP address? To find out what your IP address, you can check it by navigating to https://ipv4.nexcess.net.
To delete a MySQL whitelist IP address, you can click on the Delete button or the corresponding entry to remove any IP whitelisting entry:
Congratulations! You have successfully whitelisted your IP address for MySQL remote connections.
Remotely accessing MySQL requires a third-party MySQL client application. Some of these applications are free, while others require purchasing. Instructions on using the third-party MySQL client application should be provided by the company's website where you downloaded it.
Here are a few of the industry-leading MySQL client applications:
Despite being able to open MySQL to remote connections and to prevent possible security breaches, you should grant privileges to selected users only. Additionally, ensure the users are using very strong passwords. Keeping the MySQL server software up-to-date should help too.
Common connection tips are:
Some common questions that frequently come up include the following.
Question #1: Remote access to the MySQL database server is disabled by default. Why is this?
Answer: The remote access to the MySQL database server is disabled due to security reasons.
Question #2: Can I test my MySQL database remotely and verify database access?
Answer: Yes, you can test the remote MySQL connection using MySQL client applications like MySQL Workbench. Otherwise, you can run the following command from a remote machine with a MySQL client:
Question #3: If my IP constantly changes, what should I do?
Answer: If you have a dynamic IP address, the connecting IP address will keep changing periodically, depending on the Internet Service Provider (ISP). To use the Remote MySQL Functionality, you must update the IP address each time it changes.
There are a few solutions you can try if you are having trouble getting through the firewall with a dynamic IP address:
You can contact Nexcess Support to get your IP address range added to the MySQL Whitelist IP table.
Otherwise, Get static IP addressing instead for your client computers, and then add the IP addresses as firewall rules.
Question #4: When connecting to MySQL, I get a Connection Refused error?
Answer: Our servers block Port 3306 with regard to inbound traffic. Contact us via live chat or a phone call to request that Port 3306 be opened for your IP address to connect remotely.
That's it! We hope this article was helpful. If you need any help, please search for the answer to your question in the within the Nexcess Knowledge Base.
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