Why Can't I Connect to My MySQL Server via Unix Socket?

Error Connecting to MySQL Server via Unix Socket

When trying to establish a connection to a MySQL database through the PHP MySQLi class, an error message may appear: "Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket 'MySQL' (2)."

Understanding the Error

This error indicates that the MySQL client library is attempting to use a Unix domain socket for the connection, but the socket is not configured correctly or does not exist. By default, localhost connections use a Unix socket, which can be faster and more secure than TCP/IP. However, specifying 'localhost' may not work if the socket is not configured properly.

Solving the Problem

To resolve this issue, consider the following solutions:

• Specify TCP/IP Connection: Instead of using 'localhost,' use the IP address '127.0.0.1' to force a TCP/IP connection.
• Check Socket Configuration in php.ini: In the MySQL configuration file (my.cnf), locate the socket path and set the PHP configuration option 'mysqli.default_socket' to that path.
• Configure Socket Explicitly in Script: Set the socket path explicitly in the PHP script when opening the connection, as shown in the following example:

$db = new MySQLi('localhost', 'kamil', '***', '', 0, '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock');

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