[How To] Configuring MySQL listen to localhost only.

lc-root | September 16, 2011 | How To, Manuals, Security | 1 Comment

Configuring MySQL to listen to localhost only is a great way to secure your data from malicious attacks. This guide will help you to understand how you can configure your MySQL to listen to localhost only.

Find and edit the MySQL configuration file here /etc/my.cnf or here /etc/mysql/my.cnf.
Add or edit following row:
```
bind-address=127.0.0.1
```
Restart the MySQL database.
```
$ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart
```

Once you have done this, any connections that are attempted from outside the loopback interface will be denied. This means that any remote connections will be blocked, and only local connections will be allowed. This is a great way to secure your MySQL database from any malicious attacks.

For more security, you can also configure MySQL to only listen to specific IP addresses, as well as localhost. For example, if you have multiple applications connecting to the database, you can configure MySQL to only allow connections from those specific IP addresses. This is a great way to ensure that only authorized connections are allowed.