connecting to mysql from cygwin

I can successfully connect to MySQL from a DOS prompt, but when I try to connect from cygwin, it just hangs.

$/cygdrive/c/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.1/bin/mysql -u root -p

What’s wrong?

Answers:

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Method 1

I just came across this, and when I read someone’s mention of it being a windows/DOS command that you run in cygwin I did a which mysql and that gave me:

$ which mysql
/cygdrive/c/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.5/bin/mysql

So I ran the cygwin Setup.exe searched for “mysql” and installed the latest “mysql client”. Now which mysql looks like:

$ which mysql
/usr/bin/mysql

And the MySQL command works in cygwin 🙂

Though it’s an old question, it would be nice to have the actual answer here, as people (like myself) might still stumble across it.

If your attempts to run the MySQL client from Cygwin return the following error:

$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysql.sock' (2)

Then you can fix it by adding the explicit -h 127.0.0.1 options to the command line, as in:

$ mysql -u root -p -h 127.0.0.1

Updates based on comments:

To avoid specifying -h 127.0.0.1 on the command line every time you connect, you can add:

[client]
host=127.0.0.1

to the file /etc/my.cnf

On some installations of Cygwin, specifying the host with -h might not be enough. If so, try also specifying:

--protocol=tcp

or add

protocol=tcp

to the config file.

Method 2

Assuming that you have a native Windows build of MySQL, there is a terminal emulation incompatibility between DOS (command prompt) windows and bash. The prompt for mysql isn’t showing up.

To confirm this, type a command and return – it will probably work, but the prompt and the echo of the command (what you’re typing) is getting lost.

There may be a workaround in either the CYGWIN sytem properties or in bash, but I’ve never taken the time to work this one out.

Method 3

Other answers lack the following key detail:

Cygwin has two shells:

1. Default: c:cygwinbinmintty.exe
2. Basic: c:cygwinCygwin.bat (which launches c:cygwinbinbash.exe)

The Win32 MySQL can write properly to #2, but not #1, because Win32 MySQL cannot probe stdin properly (thanks @PeterNore)

Want to know if you’re using Win32 MySQL? Use which, e.g.

$ which mysql
/cygdrive/c/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.1/bin/mysql

Bonus: Cygwin guide to overcoming path problems (thanks @Dustin)

Method 4

I posted a solution/workaround here:

enter key sometimes not recognized in windows apps under cygwin

Method 5

Run bash from the cmd.exe executable and then mysql will work inside bash.

1. Create a shortcut for cmd.exe on your desktop.
2. Open up the properties for the shortcut and change the startup directory to the cygwin bin directory (usually C:cygwinbin).
3. Add “/c bash.exe” to the end of the command in the target parameter.

This will run bash under the windows cmd.exe environment and when you attempt to run mysql it will execute as you would expect. This is working under windows 7 but has not been tested in any other version.

Method 6

1. Put cygwin bin directory in path env variable.
2. Use command window by running cmd
3. Run bash -l in cmd window

Then MySQL can be run without problem.

Method 7

Svend Hansen’s answer is the right one:

• Install windows mysql server files (from mysql-5.5.25-win32.msi for example)
• Install Cygwin mysql client with cygwin installer (setup.exe)
• Connect to your server in a cygwin window using cygwin client “mysql -u -p[Password] -h[host]”, in my case “mysql -uroot -pXXXX -h127.0.0.1”

I think that when the question was posted, the cygwin setup did not provide mysql components, which is solved now.

Method 8

Althoug Svend Hansen answer has some points, another thing is the PATH in Environment variables – if the path to mysql is before that of cygwin

which mysql

will show

/cygdrive/c/Program Files/MySQL/MySQL Server 5.5/bin/mysql

otherwise it will show the cygwin client.

As reference Wikipedia says:

Some programs may add their directory to the front of the PATH
variable’s content during installation, to speed up the search process
and/or override OS commands.

Method 9

1. Download Cygwin
2. Install mysql client app
3. create an alias in .bashrc file

   alias mysql=’mysql -h 127.0.0.1′

4. execute source .bashrc

Now you can connect to mysql

mysql -u user -p

Method 10

I have created a semi-fix for this that satisfies me.
I ran cygwin.bat in cmd.exe, then typing mysql in- everything worked fine.

I realized right there that the problem was mintty.

Easy solution? Download Console2, and under settings you can point
it to the cygwin shell. Restart Console2, run mysql and the output
appears.

This is advantageous anyways, because Console2 has a more robust interface/customization than Mintty. I really like the transparency and color mapping options.

Method 11

Do This:

1. just copy ur mysql.exe from C:Program FilesMySQLMySQL Server 5.5bin
2. paste this mysql.exe in C:cygwinusrlocalbin
3. now run which mysql, It will

Method 12

Disclaimer: The following solved this issue for me under MinTTY on MinGW/MSYS. From research, I believe this same root cause affects Cygwin as well.

Answer is posted here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/23164362/1034436

In a nutshell, you’ll need to prepend your mysql command with winpty’s console.exe (or have aliases that does so). This solution worked with native Windows MySQL executables and not a special cygwin/mingw build. You do, however, have to compile winpty, but that was simple and painless, and worked as per their documentation for me.

Note: This also solved my issue with several other native Windows console applications, namely Python and Mercurial with OpenSSH.

Method 13

Reinstall cygwin and during reinstallation search for mysql in packages, install the mysql client and then it would work fine.

Method 14

Found this question today 2018-03-18 looking for some answers to

ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysql.sock' (2 "No such file or directory")

The file /etc/my.conf references config files in /etc/my.cnf.d
I added this to /etc/my.cnf.d/client.cnf:

[client]
host=127.0.0.1
protocol=tcp

After that I was able to access the local windows MySQL instance from a cygwin terminal using mysql -u root -p

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0