Setting Up Connection to MySQL Server

00:00 So far, you have installed the complete MySQL system, and now is the time to set up a connection to the MySQL server. In this lesson, you will learn how to write a Python code that establishes this connection in a secure way.

00:15 Open your favorite Python IDE. On my side, I’m opening Visual Studio Code. Next, open the designated MySQLproject folder. In this folder, create a new Jupyter Notebook.

00:35 Let’s call it MySQLcode.

00:43 Make sure to select the utils Python environment as a Python kernel to enable running and introspecting the Notebook in the utils virtual environment.

00:54 Next, you’ll need the built-in getpass module. Type from getpass import getpass. You will need it to hide your login credentials such as passwords. From mysql.connector, you will need the connect() function, import connect, and Error to report any errors that may occur while establishing the connection to the server.

01:25 For this purpose, you should try using a try except structure: try: except Error as e: print(e).

01:40 Also, in this code, you should take advantage of a context manager using with as it takes care of the connection cleanup. with connect

01:54 as connection: print( connection). An alternative solution is to close the connection after you are done accessing the database.

02:08 Otherwise, if you leave open connections unused, you may encounter server performance issues. The connect() function takes in your login credentials that you have set up during the server installation process, such as the values of the host, username, and password parameters.

02:35 The host is your localhost. Since you have set up the server on your local machine, type localhost. To avoid the exposure of sensitive information, which is a good practice for deployment, you can use input and getpass commands to prompt a user for login credentials.

03:00 user = input( "Enter your username: ")

03:08 and password = getpass("Enter your password: "). Let’s execute this code.

03:20 It expects input data from the user, and in Visual Studio Code, the input command line appears above the cell with a prompt to enter your username and its root, followed by your password.

03:37 Type your password.

03:41 Do you see a MySQL object in the form of a long string appearing as a result of the cell execution? Congratulations, you have now established a successful connection between your Jupyter notebook and the MySQL server without posing a security risk.