MySQL Setup on Ubuntu 24.04: Install, Secure, First Database

Install MySQL Server on Ubuntu, lock it down with the security script, and create your first database and user. Ubuntu 24.04 ships MySQL 8.0.

Full guide: Install MySQL on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04 (Secure Setup)

Related guide: Full MySQL / MariaDB setup guide

1. Install

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mysql-server

2. Secure it

Removes anonymous users and the test database and blocks remote root login.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

3. Create a database and user

Open the shell with sudo mysql, then create what your app needs.

CREATE DATABASE appdb;
CREATE USER 'appuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'a-long-random-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON appdb.* TO 'appuser'@'localhost';

4. Verify

Log in as the new user and check the version.

mysql -u appuser -p -e 'SELECT VERSION(); SHOW DATABASES;'

5. Back it up

A simple nightly dump you can restore anywhere.

mysqldump --single-transaction appdb | gzip > appdb-$(date +%F).sql.gz

6. Troubleshooting

Service will not start: read its log. Disk full is a common cause.

sudo systemctl status mysql --no-pager
sudo journalctl -u mysql -n 50 --no-pager
df -h /var/lib/mysql

FAQ

MySQL or MariaDB?

Either works for most apps, including WordPress. Ubuntu's mysql-server package installs MySQL 8.0; MariaDB is available as mariadb-server.

Should port 3306 be open to the internet?

No. Keep it on localhost or allow only specific app servers, and use an SSH tunnel for admin.

Further reading: MySQL 8.0 reference manual