How to access MySQL remotely

For PCI compliance and security, Kualo does not allow direct external MySQL connections. To connect remotely, you need to route your connection through an SSH tunnel.

Two ways to set up an SSH tunnel

• Built-in SSH tunnelling - many MySQL clients (such as MySQL Workbench) have SSH tunnel support built in. See our guide on setting up a secure remote MySQL connection for details.
• PuTTY with port forwarding - if your client does not have built-in SSH tunnelling, use PuTTY to forward a local port to the remote MySQL port, as described below.

Port forwarding with PuTTY

Step 1 - configure the tunnel

1. Open PuTTY.
2. In the Category pane on the left, expand Connection, expand SSH, then click Tunnels.

Step 2 - add the port forwarding rule

1. In the Source port field, type 3306. This is the local port that will be forwarded.
2. In the Destination field, type localhost:3306.
3. Confirm that the Local and Auto radio buttons are selected.
4. Click Add.

Step 3 - open the SSH session

1. In the Category pane, click Session.
2. In the Host Name (or IP address) field, enter your domain name or server IP address.
3. In the Port field, enter the SSH port for your account.
4. Confirm that the Connection type is set to SSH.

5. Click Open.
6. If a PuTTY security alert about the server host key appears, click Yes to accept it.

7. When prompted, enter your cPanel username and password.

Once the command prompt appears, the SSH tunnel is active. Your MySQL client can now connect to 127.0.0.1 on port 3306 as if MySQL were running locally.