How to Fix the 'mysqli_connect(): Authentication Method Unknown to Client [caching_sha2_password]' Error?

Resolve the Error: "mysqli_connect: Authentication Method Unknown to Client [caching_sha2_password]

When using PHP's mysqli_connect function to establish a connection to a MySQL database, you may encounter the error "mysqli_connect(): The server requested authentication method unknown to the client [caching_sha2_password]". This typically occurs when the server is configured to use the caching_sha2_password authentication method, while the client does not support this method.

Troubleshooting and Solution:

To resolve this issue and establish a successful connection, you can follow these steps:

1. Verify MySQL Server Configuration: Ensure that the MySQL server is configured to use the correct authentication method. By default, it is set to caching_sha2_password. You can check this by examining the default_authentication_plugin parameter in the MySQL Server ini file (my.ini or my.cnf).
2. Update MySQL User Credentials: If the MySQL server is configured to use caching_sha2_password, you must update the password for the affected users to match the caching_sha2_password method. This can be achieved using the following SQL command:

ALTER USER 'username'@'host' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'new_password';

3. Modify MySQL Server Authentication Plugin: If updating user credentials does not resolve the issue, you can modify the authentication plugin used by the MySQL server. In the MySQL Server ini file, set the default_authentication_plugin parameter to mysql_native_password, which is supported by the client.
4. Restart MySQL Server: After making any changes to the MySQL Server ini file, restart the MySQL server to apply the new settings.
5. Update PHP Client Configuration: Ensure that your PHP client is also configured to use mysql_native_password authentication. This can be done by setting the mysqli.default_auth parameter in your PHP configuration file (php.ini) to mysql_native_password.

By implementing these steps, you should be able to establish a successful connection to the MySQL database using the mysqli_connect function, resolving the "authentication method unknown to the client [caching_sha2_password]" error.

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