How should I connect Application to MySQL MariaDB

Node.js Application Connection to MySQL MariaDB

MySQL and MariaDB are among of the most popular open source SQL databases, used by world’s largest organizations. In this guide we’ll overview a simple example of Node.js application connection to MySQL or MariaDB server.

1. Log into my Cloudjiffy account and create an environment with MySQL (or MariaDB) database server, we’ll also add a NodeJS compute node for this tutorial.

For this tutorial, we’ll use a single environment with both instances inside.

2. Access my NodeJS server via SSH, e.g. with embedded Web SSH client.

3. Once connected, get an official MySQL driver for Node.js (compatible with MariaDB) by executing the following command:

npm install mysql

Note: MySQL driver for NodeJS 10 is currently in testing, so if the deprecation warnings are shown while operating this server version, I may need to install the testing version:

npm install mysqljs/mysql

Installation will be finished in a moment.

4. Prepare a simple Node.js script to verify connection. Create a file with the .js extension, using any text editor of my choice (e.g. vim script.js).

The highlighted placeholders in the code above should be adjusted using the appropriate connection information (is provided within the email for my MySQL container):

{user} - username to log into the database with
{password} - password for the appropriate user
{host} - link to my MySQL container
{database} - database to be accessed (e.g. the default one - MySQL)

Using this script, I can check the connection to the database from my application server and, if it fails, get an error description.

5. Run code with the appropriate command:

node script.js

For successful connection a “I am connected!” phrase will be displayed in terminal, otherwise error description will be provided. Now, when I am sure of my database container is accessible, expand the code to execute some real actions on my DB server.