MySQL

Overview

A datasource consists of a database resource and the credentials used to access it. This guide describes how to add a MySQL or MySQL (mTLS) as a datasource in the StrongDM Admin UI.

The mutual TLS (mTLS) version of this datasource type is available if you need certificates to reach the MySQL port, rather than username and password. This is of particular importance with GCP-hosted MySQL, for which it is the default expected behavior.

Prerequisites

To add a datasource, make sure you have met the following prerequisites:

• Properly configure an account for your database resource. If you choose to store credentials for the resource with StrongDM, have those credentials ready. When not using StrongDM, set up a Secret Store integration and be able to enter the location of the secrets required to access the resource.

• The hostname or endpoint you enter for your resource must be accessible by at least one gateway or relay. To verify this, log in to the gateway or relay and use the nc -zv <YOUR_HOSTNAME> <YOUR_PORT> Netcat command. For example, use nc -zv testdb-01.fancy.org 5432. If your gateway server can connect to this hostname, you can proceed.

Netcat is a network analysis tool for checking various hostnames and ports by either sending data (a ping) or checking for listeners on ports. The command in the aforementioned example uses the -z flag to check for listeners without sending data and the -v flag to show verbose output. If you do not have Netcat, you can use a package manager such as APT (Advanced Package Tool) to install it. On Linux-based distributions, run apt-get install netcat.

Add a Datasource

To add your new MySQL database as a StrongDM datasource, use the following steps.

1. Log in to the StrongDM Admin UI.

2. Go to Infrastructure > Datasources.

3. Click Add datasource.

4. Select MySQL or MySQL (mTLS) as the Datasource Type and set other configuration properties for [MySQL#mysql-resource-properties) or [MySQL (mTLS)#mysql-mtls-resource-properties) for your new database resource.

5. Complete all required fields.

6. Click Create to save the resource.

7. Click the resource name to [view status#resource-status), diagnostic information, and setting details.

MySQL resource properties

Configuration properties are visible when you add a datasource or when you click to view its settings. The following table describes the settings available for your MySQL database.

Property	Requirement	Description
Display Name	Required	Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >)
Datasource Type	Required	Select MySQL
Proxy Cluster	Required	Defaults to "None (use gateways)"; if using proxy clusters, select the appropriate cluster to proxy traffic to this resource
Hostname	Required	Hostname for your MongoDB database resource; must be accessible to a gateway or relay
Port	Required	Port to use when connecting to your MongoDB database; default port value is 3306
Connectivity Mode	Required	Select either Virtual Networking Mode, which lets users connect to the resource with a software-defined, IP-based network; or Loopback Mode, which allows users to connect to the resource using the local loopback adapter in their operating system
IP Address	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the range 100.64.0.1 to 100.127.255.252 (default 100.64.100.100); optionally change the default value for Virtual Networking Mode to your preferred IP address value, as long as it's a valid IP address defined by your organization settings; edit either on this form or later on the Admin UI's Port Overrides page after the resource is created; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, the IP address value must be within the range of 127.0.0.1 to 127.0.0.34
Port Override	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1 and 65535 that is not already in use by another resource; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1024 to 64999 that is not already in use by another resource; when left empty, the system assigns the default port to this resource; preferred port also can be modified later from the Port Overrides settings
DNS	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a unique hostname alias for this resource; when set, causes the desktop app to display this resource's human-readable DNS name (for example, k8s.my-organization-name) instead of the bind address that includes IP address and port (for example, 100.64.100.100:5432)
Healthcheck Database	Optional	Database name you would like to connect to specifically for healthchecks from StrongDM
Secret Store	Optional	Credential store location; defaults to Strong Vault; learn more about [Secret Store#secret-store-options) options
Username	Required	Username to utilize when connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type
Password	Required	Password for the user connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type
Username (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type
Password (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type
Require Native Password Authentication	Optional	Enable if the resource requires the use of mysql_native_password for all connections; this option is available for backwards compatibility with prior MySQL versions
Use Azure Single Server Usernames	Optional	If selected, the hostname is appended to the username when interacting with a database.azure.com address
Resource Tags	Optional	Datasource Tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev)

MySQL (mTLS) Resource Properties

Configuration properties are visible when you add a datasource or when you click to view its settings. The following table describes the settings available for MySQL (mTLS).

Property	Requirement	Description
Display Name	Required	Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >)
Datasource Type	Required	Select MySQL (mTLS)
Proxy Cluster	Required	Defaults to "None (use gateways)"; if using proxy clusters, select the appropriate cluster to proxy traffic to this resource
Hostname	Required	Hostname for your MySQL database resource; must be accessible to a gateway or relay
Port	Required	Port to use when connecting to your MySQL database; default port value is 3306
Connectivity Mode	Required	Select either Virtual Networking Mode, which lets users connect to the resource with a software-defined, IP-based network; or Loopback Mode, which allows users to connect to the resource using the local loopback adapter in their operating system; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode enabled for your organization
IP Address	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Virtual Networking Mode subnet in the organization network settings; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Loopback IP range in the organization network settings (by default, 127.0.0.1); if not specified, an available IP address in the configured IP address space for the selected connectivity mode will be automatically assigned; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode and/or multi-loopback mode is enabled for your organization
Port Override	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1 and 65535 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1024 to 64999 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; when left empty with Virtual Networking Mode, the system assigns the default port to this resource; when left empty for Loopback Mode, an available port that is not already in use by another resource is assigned; preferred port also can be modified later from the Port Overrides settings
DNS	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a unique hostname alias for this resource; when set, causes the desktop app to display this resource's human-readable DNS name (for example, k8s.my-organization-name) instead of the bind address that includes IP address and port (for example, 100.64.100.100:5432)
Healthcheck Database	Optional	Database name you would like to connect to specifically for healthchecks from StrongDM
Secret Store	Optional	Credential store location; defaults to Strong Vault; learn more about [Secret Store#secret-store-options) options
Username	Required	Username to utilize when connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type
Password	Required	Password for the user connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the Secret Store type
Username (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type
Password (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type
Server CA	Required	Paste the server certificate (plaintext or Base64-encoded), or import a PEM file; this field is shown when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization, or when it is and StrongDM is the selected Secret Store type
Server CA (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName); the key argument is optional; this field is shown if Secret Store integration is configured for your organization and you selected a Secret Store type that is not StrongDM
Client Certificate	Required	Client certificate (plaintext or Base64-encoded) or PEM file; this field is shown when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization, or when it is and StrongDM is the selected Secret Store type
Client Certificate (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName); the key argument is optional; this field is shown if Secret Store integration is configured for your organization and you selected a Secret Store type that is not StrongDM
Client Key	Required	Client key (plaintext or Base64-encoded) or PEM file; this field is shown when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization, or when it is and StrongDM is the selected Secret Store type
Client Key (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName); the key argument is optional; this field is shown if Secret Store integration is configured for your organization and you selected a Secret Store type that is not StrongDM
Server Name	Required	Server name; for GCP, for example, the server name is the connection name of your instance in GCP without the region (for example, example-sandbox:my-instance-mtls-mysql); for non-GCP instances, the server name is the hostname/DNS name
Require Native Password Authentication	Optional	Enable if the resource requires the use of mysql_native_password for all connections; this option is available for backwards compatibility with prior MySQL versions
Use Azure Single Server Usernames	Optional	If selected, the hostname is appended to the username when interacting with a database.azure.com address
Resource Tags	Optional	Datasource Tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev)

Secret Store options

By default, datasource credentials are stored in StrongDM. However, these credentials can also be saved in a secrets management tool.

Non-StrongDM options appear in the Secret Store dropdown if they are created under Settings > Secrets Management > Secret Stores. When you select another Secret Store type, its unique properties display. For more details, see Configure Secret Store Integrations.

Resource status

After a resource is created, the Admin UI displays that resource as unhealthy until the healthchecks run successfully. When the resource is ready, the Health icon indicates a positive, green status.

When the resource does not display a positive status, click the resource name to go to the Diagnostics tab and check for errors.