How To Install MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04

In our guide today, we are looking at how to install MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa) Server. MySQL is one of the most commonly used Database Management Systems. It uses the concept of relational databases and has a client/server architecture. It can be installed on various operating systems including Windows, CentOS and Debian among others.

Installing MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)

The below steps describe how to install and configure MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04. It start with adding APT repository with packages for MySQL then dives to the actual package installations and configurations.

Step 1: Add MySQL APT repository in Ubuntu

Ubuntu already comes with the default MySQL package repositories. In order to add or install the latest repositories, we are going to install package repositories . Download the repository using the below command:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install wget -y
wget https://dev.mysql.com/get/mysql-apt-config_0.8.12-1_all.deb

Once downloaded, install the repository by running the command below:

sudo dpkg -i mysql-apt-config_0.8.12-1_all.deb

In the prompt, choose Ubuntu Bionic and click Ok

The next prompt shows MySQL 8.0 chosen by default. Choose the first option and click OK

In the next prompt, select MySQL 5.7 server and click OK.

The next prompt selects MySQL5.7 by default. Choose the last otpion Ok and click OK

Step 2: Update MySQL Repository on Ubuntu

Run the below command to update your system packages

sudo apt-get update

Now search for MySQL 5,7 using apt-cache as shown below:

$ sudo apt-cache policy mysql-server
mysql-server: 
 Installed: (none) 
 Candidate: 8.0.21-0ubuntu0.20.04.4 
 Version table: 
    8.0.21-0ubuntu0.20.04.4 500 
       500 http://ke.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages 
       500 http://ke.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 Packages 
    8.0.19-0ubuntu5 500 
       500 http://ke.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages 
    5.7.32-1ubuntu18.04 500 
       500 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu bionic/mysql-5.7 amd64 Packages

As you can see MySQl 5.7.32–1ubuntu18.04 is appearing in the list.

Step 3: Install MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux machine

Having found MySQL 5.7 in our system, we are going to install MySQL 5.7 client, MySQL 5.7 server with the below command:

sudo apt install -f mysql-client=5.7.32-1ubuntu18.04 mysql-community-server=5.7.32-1ubuntu18.04 mysql-server=5.7.32-1ubuntu18.04

Hit the y key to start installation of MySQL 5.7 on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux.

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libgdbm-compat4 libmecab2 libperl5.30 libtinfo5 mysql-common mysql-community-client perl perl-modules-5.30
Suggested packages:
  perl-doc libterm-readline-gnu-perl | libterm-readline-perl-perl make libb-debug-perl liblocale-codes-perl
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libgdbm-compat4 libmecab2 libperl5.30 libtinfo5 mysql-client mysql-common mysql-community-client mysql-community-server mysql-server perl perl-modules-5.30
0 upgraded, 11 newly installed, 0 to remove and 35 not upgraded.
Need to get 58.1 MB of archives.
After this operation, 361 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y

Enter and re-enter root password when prompted

Step 3: Secure MySQL 5.7 Installation on Ubuntu 20.04

Run the command below to secure MySQL

$ sudo mysql_secure_installation

Press Enter. When prompted for password, provide the root password set above.

Answer the prompts as below:

Enter current password for root (enter for none): <Enter password>
VALIDATE PASSWORD PLUGIN can be used to test passwords 
and improve security. It checks the strength of password 
and allows the users to set only those passwords which are 
secure enough. Would you like to setup VALIDATE PASSWORD plugin? 
Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No: Y 
There are three levels of password validation policy: 
LOW    Length >= 8 
MEDIUM Length >= 8, numeric, mixed case, and special characters 
STRONG Length >= 8, numeric, mixed case, special characters and dictionary                 
Please enter 0 = LOW, 1 = MEDIUM and 2 = STRONG: 1 
Using existing password for root. 
Estimated strength of the password: 25  
Change the password for root ? ((Press y|Y for Yes, any other key for No) : d
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] Y 
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] Y 
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] Y 
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] Y 
Thanks for using MariaDB!

Check MySQL version.

To confirm the installed version, first, connect to MySQL with the set root password.

$ mysql -u root -p

Run the below command to display version

$ SHOW VERSION();
+-----------+ 
| VERSION() | 
+-----------+ 
| 5.7.31    | 
+-----------+ 
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Step 4: Create MySQL User (Optional, testing only)

While still connected to MySQL, run the following commands to create a user:

CREATE USER 'user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyStrongPass.';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON * . * TO 'user'@'%'; 
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 5: Enable MySQL remote access (Optional)

By default, MySQL remote access is disabled. To enable it we need to edit mysqld.cnf file as below:

$ sudo vim /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

Look for the line ‘bind_address’ and change as below:

# By default we only accept connections from localhost 
#bind-address   = 127.0.0.1 
bind-address   = 0.0.0.0

Save the file and restart mysql

$ sudo systemctl restart mysql

Allow remote connections through the firewall

$ sudo ufw allow from <remote_IP_address> to any port 3306
$ sudo ufw enable

To access the database from a remote machine, run the following command:

$ mysql -u user -h database_server_ip -p