How to get a MySQL database account

The MySQL database server is the world's most popular open source database. CETS provides MySQL database accounts for students in specific courses.

MySQL Database Accounts Policy

For students: anyone with CGI enabled on Fling.seas automatically has a MySQL database available for use. Please see the CGI Scripts article for more details on requesting access to Fling.
For faculty: MySQL accounts are also available on Alliance.seas - please email cets@seas.upenn.edu to discuss your database needs.

Your MySQL Account

Step 1 - Setting your Database Password

To change your MySQL database password on Fling.seas go to: https://www.seas.upenn.edu/mysql/fling.html.

If you are getting an "Access Denied" error, it means you are not currently authenticated to have a MySQL account. Please contact cets@seas.

Step 2 - Connect to MySQL Database

Once you've created your MySQL database, logon to Eniac.seas.upenn.edu and connect by typing the following at the prompt:

/usr/bin/mysql -u DBUSERNAME -h DBSERVER -p DBNAME

with the following replacements of the bolded terms above:

* Replace DBSERVER with the correct database servername for your site. This is: fling.seas.upenn.edu

* Replace DBUSERNAME with your own mysql username. This is your SEAS account username.

* Replace DBNAME with your own mysql databasename. The name of your database is the same as your SEAS account username.

For example: /usr/bin/mysql -u jsmith -h fling.seas.upenn.edu -p jsmith

Step 3 - Use SQL Commands to create and manipulate your database

After completing Step 2, you will be prompted for your MySQL password (this is the password you set in Step 1). Once successfully logged in you'll be brought to the MySQL prompt, where you can then issue SQL commands directly to the MySQL server.

Here are some of the basic MySQL commands:

Display all databases

 mysql> show databases;

View tables of a Database (must be connected to the Database)

 mysql> show tables;

View contents of a table (must be connected to the Database)

 mysql> select * from TableName;

Create a table

mysql> CREATE TABLE table_name
       (
       column_name1 data_type,
       column_name2 data_type,
       .......
        )

For Example - To create a table called address_book with three columns: first_name, last_name, and phone_number, use the following command:

mysql> CREATE TABLE address_book (first_name VARCHAR(25), last_name 
       VARCHAR(25), phone_number VARCHAR(15));

Display the column details of the a table

mysql> describe TableName;

Insert data into a table

mysql> INSERT INTO table_name

       VALUES (value1, value2,....)

For Example - To insert a record into the address_book table, use the following command:

mysql> INSERT INTO address_book (first_name, last_name, phone_number)
       VALUES ('John', 'Smith', '215-895-6955');

For complete SQL syntax information, see the MySQL Manual.

Connecting to MySQL using PHP

To connect to your MySQL database, use the following function:

mysql_connect("localhost", "your_db_username", "db_password")

CGI Scripts on Eniac, Fling, and Alliance
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