MySQL 8.4

MySQL is one of the most widely deployed open-source relational databases in the world. This image ships MySQL 8.4 LTS, a long-term support release intended for production workloads.

Software included

Component	Version
MySQL Server	8.4.x (LTS)
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS

Getting started

1. Connect to your VM

ssh ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

2. Wait for first-boot configuration

On the first boot, a setup script runs automatically. It generates a random root password and saves it to /etc/mysql/mysql-root-password.txt. This takes under 30 seconds.

Track progress:

journalctl -u mysql-first-boot.service -f

3. Retrieve credentials

sudo cat /etc/mysql/mysql-root-password.txt

This file contains the root password. It is only readable by root.

4. Connect to MySQL

ROOT_PASS=$(sudo cat /etc/mysql/mysql-root-password.txt)
mysql -u root -p"$ROOT_PASS"

Managing MySQL

# Check service status
systemctl status mysql

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart mysql

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u mysql -f

Configuration directory: /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/

To allow remote connections, edit /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf and change bind-address from 127.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.0, then restart MySQL. Open the firewall for specific IPs only (see Security).

Security

Port 3306 is not open externally by default. UFW is enabled and allows SSH (port 22) only.

To allow access from a specific IP:

sudo ufw allow from <trusted-ip> to any port 3306

To connect without opening the firewall (recommended), use an SSH tunnel:

# Run this on your local machine
ssh -L 3306:localhost:3306 ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

# Then connect locally
mysql -u root -p"<root-password>"

Caution

Avoid exposing port 3306 to 0.0.0.0. Restrict access to known IPs or use an SSH tunnel.

Next steps

• MySQL 8.4 documentation
• MySQL security guide