Install and Configure MySQL Workbench on Ubuntu 16.04

MySQL Workbench is a feature-rich graphical tool used to model data, build SQL queries, manage MySQL servers, and more. This guide will show you how to install Workbench using the Ubuntu package manager

Before You BeginPermalink

Update repositories and upgrade if necessary:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install MySQL WorkbenchPermalink

Install MySQL Workbench using the APT package manager:

sudo apt install mysql-workbench

Run MySQL WorkbenchPermalink

Launch MySQL Workbench from the terminal:

mysql-workbench

To view more launch options from the command line interface, use the --help option:

/usr/bin/mysql-workbench --help

MySQL Workbench shows this welcome screen on first run:

Configure MySQL WorkbenchPermalink

Use the built-in Workbench Preferences to adjust settings such as targeted MySQL server version, font color, code completion, and others.

To open the preferences, click on Edit, then Preferences in the main menu:

Optional: Load a Sample Database into MySQL ServerPermalink

See the guide on how to Install a MySQL server on Ubuntu 14.04 or Debian 8 for more information on creating or logging into a MySQL server.

1. Access the MySQL server on your Linode via SSH and download the sample Sakila database provided in the MySQL documentation:

   wget http://downloads.mysql.com/docs/sakila-db.tar.gz
   

2. Decompress the tar.gz file:

   tar -xzvf sakila-db.tar.gz
   

3. Open MySQL Workbench on your local machine and click + to create a new connection:

4. Create a Connection Name. Click the Connection Method dropdown menu and select 
Standard TCP/IP over SSH. 

Complete the credentials for SSH and MySQL user login:

 5.Under File, select Run SQL Script…. Select sakila-schema.sql then click Run:

 6. Repeat Step 5 for sakila-data.sql.
7. Under the Query1 tab, use the sample query below to see a Result Grid of selected data:

1. USE sakila;
   SELECT * FROM actors WHERE first_name LIKE 'A%';

The sample database provides a sandbox in which to test configurations and show how to integrate them into your workflow. MySQL Workbench offers a graphical interface to view database models in addition to building queries. While there are plenty of features, free and commercial, lightweight alternatives are available, depending on needs of the user. MySQL Workbench remains a great choice for most database administration tasks.

More InformationPermalink

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