About MySQL for Sitehost

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Overview

MySQL for Sitehost at Indiana University is designed to provide support for Sitehost users and eliminate the need for individual departments to administer MySQL database instances for their sites. IU group account owners can create MySQL accounts automatically and get nearly instant access to the central MySQL for Sitehost.

MySQL for Sitehost has a single instance in which account holders have root-like credentials and functionality, with access to only the databases and resources they own. Account holders can create additional users, databases (called "schemas"), and tables; they can also grant some user permissions.

Updates for Production and Test MySQL for Sitehost are maintained by the Database Administration team. These servers may be unavailable during the standard maintenance window for Sitehost (from 12am to 8am the second Sunday of the month), and may affect websites using the service.

Create an account

For help creating an account, see Create a MySQL for Sitehost account or reset a root user password.

Schemas

The term "schema" has replaced "database" for MySQL documentation. Although the term "database" still works in all MySQL commands (for example, CREATE database 'test'), the term is deprecated and may disappear from future MySQL revisions. UITS recommends adopting "schema" as quickly as possible.

MySQL account naming conventions

In the MySQL for Sitehost single-instance environment, every user's schemas and tables are contained within a single high performance MySQL instance. The MySQL environment does not allow any two schemas or users to share the same name, so users and schemas will have their names prepended with the group account name and an underscore (_), as follows:

account_schema1

Because group account names are unique, this guarantees that content retains a unique identity within the environment. The procedures to create new objects will automatically prepend the group account name and underscore to the name.

MySQL API procedures

The environment relies on a new model, the stored procedure, which is a set of commands that automates many common MySQL tasks and ensures compliance with naming conventions. To call a procedure, you must initially be connected to your MySQL account using your preferred connection method.

Procedures are formatted in the following manner (replace procedureName with the name of the stored procedure you are invoking and include the required parameters inside the parentheses):

CALL api.procedureName(parameter01, parameter02, ...)

For a list of available procedures, use the following command:

CALL api.listProcedures();

To access the technical guide for a particular MySQL procedure, use the following command (replace procedureName with the name of the procedure):

CALL api.help('procedureName');

For more, including examples and service maintenance information, use the following command:

CALL api.help('me');

MySQL Workbench

UITS recommends using MySQL Workbench to connect to your MySQL for Sitehost account. MySQL Workbench provides a graphical environment for creating and managing connections to MySQL database servers, and features a built-in SQL Editor for executing SQL queries on those database connections.

At IU, you have the following options for using MySQL Workbench:

  • The MySQL Workbench open source Community Edition is available free of charge (for Windows, macOS, and Linux) from Oracle's Download MySQL Workbench page.
  • IU students, faculty, and staff can use a virtualized version of MySQL Workbench on their personal workstations and mobile devices via IUanyWare.

For more, see Use MySQL Workbench to connect to the Sitehost MySQL servers.

External connections

Since the environment is intended to provide support exclusively to Sitehost, it will only accept connections to and from the IU central Sitehost and Sitehost-test servers (sitehost.iu.edu and sitehost-test.iu.edu).

Get help

If you have questions or need help connecting to your account, contact Tier 2.