IBM Cloud Docs
Getting started with Databases for MySQL

Getting started with Databases for MySQL

This tutorial will guide you through deploying and managing IBM Cloud® Databases for MySQL on IBM Cloud. With MySQL Workbench, an open-source tool, you can easily manage your data and databases.

MySQL Workbench provides many tools to help you manage your database effortlessly so you can focus on building and scaling your applications.

Before you begin

Connect to your database

Set up your connection to IBM Cloud® Databases for MySQL by performing the following steps:

  1. Open MySQL Workbench.
  2. Add a new connection with your database details.
  3. Save the connection settings and connect to your database.

For detailed instructions, see the MySQL Workbench documentation.

Provision a MySQL deployment

To create your MySQL deployment:

  1. Log in to the IBM Cloud Console.
  2. Go to Databases for MySQL Service in the catalog.
  3. Configure the following:
    • Service name: Choose a memorable name for your deployment.
    • Resource group: Select the appropriate resource group.
    • Location: Choose a region or Satellite location.
    • Resource allocation: Define initial RAM, disk, and CPU resources.
  4. Click Create to finalize the deployment.

Once created, your deployment automatically scales and manages availability across zones for resilience.

Connect to your database with the CLI

To connect to your database from the CLI, see the Cloud Databases CLI reference and Connecting with mysql.

The ibmcloud cdb deployment-connections command handles everything involved in creating a command-line client connection. For example, to connect to a deployment named example-mysql, use the following command:

ibmcloud cdb deployment-connections example-mysql --start

The command prompts for the admin password and then runs the mysql command-line client to connect to the database. For more information, see Connecting with mysql.

Connect with MySQL Workbench

Use MySQL Workbench to manage and interact with your MySQL database visually.

  1. Open MySQL Workbench.
  2. Create a new connection:
    • Go to Database > Manage connections and add a new connection.
    • Fill in your connection details (hostname, username, and password).
  3. Test the connection:
    • Click Test connection to ensure everything is set up correctly.
  4. Save and connect:
    • Save your connection settings and proceed to connect to your database.

For more information, see Connections in MySQL Workbench.

Product overview

IBM Cloud® Databases for MySQL is a serverless, fully managed cloud database service. It offers the following main benefits:

  • Automated maintenance: No manual software, infrastructure, network or OS administration is required.
  • High availabilty: Deployed across multiple data centers with automatic failover.
  • Scalability: Independently scale disk, RAM, and vCPU with auto-scaling and hourly billing.
  • Semisynchronous replication: It ensures that data is available across multiple locations for high availability, adding an extra layer of data safety and reliability.
  • Security: Choose between multi-tenant or isolated environments, depending on your security needs.

Key features

  • Seamless scaling: Easily scale instances horizontally with read replicas, both regionally and cross-regionally.
  • Disaster recovery: Built-in options for cross-regional disaster recovery.
  • Dedicated cores: Configure with vCPUs for hypervisor-level isolation.

For more information on isolation settings, see the Security and Compliance section.

Next steps