Connect to Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server with encrypted connections

APPLIES TO: Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server

In this article, you learn how to:

• Configure your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance
  • With SSL disabled
  • With SSL enforced with TLS version
• Connect to your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance using mysql command-line
  • With encrypted connections disabled
  • With encrypted connections enabled
• Verify encryption status for your connection
• Connect to your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance with encrypted connections using various application frameworks

Overview of TLS/SSL support in Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server

Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server supports connecting your client applications to the Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with Transport layer security(TLS) encryption. TLS is an industry standard protocol that ensures encrypted network connections between your database server and client applications, allowing you to adhere to compliance requirements.

Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server supports encrypted connections using Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.2) by default and all incoming connections with TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 are denied by default. The encrypted connection enforcement or TLS version configuration on your Flexible Server can be changed as discussed in this article.

Following are the different configurations of SSL and TLS settings you can have for your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance:

Disable TLS enforcement on your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance

If your client application doesn't support encrypted connections, you need to disable encrypted connections enforcement on your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance. To disable encrypted connections enforcement, you need to set require_secure_transport server parameter to OFF as shown in the screenshot, and save the server parameter configuration for it to take effect. require_secure_transport is a dynamic server parameter which takes effect immediately and doesn't require server restart to take effect.

Connect using mysql command-line client with TLS disabled

The following example shows how to connect to your server using the mysql command-line interface. Use the --ssl-mode=DISABLED connection string setting to disable TLS/SSL connection from mysql client. Replace values with your actual server name and password.

 mysql.exe -h mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com -u myadmin -p --ssl-mode=DISABLED

 mysql.exe -h mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com -u myadmin -p --ssl-mode=REQUIRED

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 17
Server version: 5.7.29-log MySQL Community Server (GPL)

Copyright (c) 2000, 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql> show global variables like '%require_secure_transport%';
+--------------------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
| +--------------------------+-------+ |
| require_secure_transport | OFF |
| +--------------------------+-------+ |
| 1 row in set (0.02 sec) |

In summary, require_secure_transport=OFF setting relaxes the enforcement of encrypted connections; therefore, the server accepts unencrypted connections in addition to encrypted connections.

Enforce the TLS version

To set TLS versions on your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance, you need to set tls_version server parameter. The default setting for TLS protocol is TLS 1.2. If your application supports connections to MySQL server with TLS, but require any protocol other than TLS 1.2, set the TLS versions in server parameter.

tls_version is a static server parameter which requires a server restart for the parameter to take effect.

Connect using mysql command-line client with TLS/SSL

Download the public SSL certificate

To establish encrypted connections with your client applications, download the DigiCert Global Root G2 certificate and the Microsoft RSA Root Certificate Authority 2017 certificate. Combine both certificates before initiating a connection to the server. For detailed steps, refer to How to update the root certificate store on your client

Save the certificate file to your preferred location. For example, this tutorial uses c:\ssl or \var\www\html\bin on your local environment or the client environment where your application is hosted.

If you created your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance with Private access (VNet Integration), you need to connect to your server from a resource within the same VNet as your server. You can create a virtual machine and add it to the VNet created with your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance.

If you created your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance with Public access (allowed IP addresses), you can add your local IP address to the list of firewall rules on your server.

You can choose either mysql.exe or Use MySQL Workbench with Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server--> to connect to the server from your local environment.

The following example shows how to connect to your server using the mysql command-line interface. Use the --ssl-mode=REQUIRED connection string setting to enforce TLS/SSL certificate verification. Pass the local certificate file path to the --ssl-ca parameter. Replace values with your actual server name and password.

sudo apt-get install mysql-client
wget --no-check-certificate https://cacerts.digicert.com/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem
mysql -h mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com -u mydemouser -p --ssl-mode=REQUIRED --ssl-ca=DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem

If you try to connect to your server with unencrypted connections, you see error stating connections using insecure transport are prohibited:

ERROR 3159 (HY000): Connections using insecure transport are prohibited while --require_secure_transport=ON.

Verify the TLS connection

Execute the mysql status command to verify that you're connected using TLS:

mysql> status

Confirm the connection is encrypted by reviewing the output, which should show: SSL: Cipher in use is. This cipher suite shows an example and based on the client, you can see a different cipher suite.

How to identify the TLS protocols configured on your server ?

You can run the command SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'tls_version'; and check the value to understand what all protocols are configured.

mysql> SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'tls_version';

How to find which TLS protocol are being used by my clients to connect to the server?

To verify the TLS version used in this connection, execute the SQL query:

SELECT sbt.variable_value AS tls_version,  t2.variable_value AS cipher,
processlist_user AS user, processlist_host AS host
FROM performance_schema.status_by_thread  AS sbt
JOIN performance_schema.threads AS t ON t.thread_id = sbt.thread_id
JOIN performance_schema.status_by_thread AS t2 ON t2.thread_id = t.thread_id
WHERE sbt.variable_name = 'Ssl_version' and t2.variable_name = 'Ssl_cipher' ORDER BY tls_version;

Connect to your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance with encrypted connections using various application frameworks

Connection strings that are predefined in the "Connection Strings" page available for your server in the Azure portal include the required parameters for common languages to connect to your database server using TLS/SSL. The TLS/SSL parameter varies based on the connector. For example, "useSSL=true", "sslmode=required", or "ssl_verify_cert=true" and other variations.

To establish an encrypted connection to your Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server instance over TLS/SSL from your application, refer to the following code samples:

WordPress

Download SSL public certificate and add the following lines in wp-config.php after the line // **MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host** //.

//** Connect with SSL ** //
define('MYSQL_CLIENT_FLAGS', MYSQLI_CLIENT_SSL);
//** SSL CERT **//
define('MYSQL_SSL_CERT','/FULLPATH/on-client/to/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem');

PHP

$conn = mysqli_init();
mysqli_ssl_set($conn,NULL,NULL, "/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem", NULL, NULL);
mysqli_real_connect($conn, 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com', 'myadmin', 'yourpassword', 'quickstartdb', 3306, MYSQLI_CLIENT_SSL);
if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
die('Failed to connect to MySQL: '.mysqli_connect_error());
}

PHP (Using PDO)

$options = array(
    PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => '/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem'
);
$db = new PDO('mysql:host=mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com;port=3306;dbname=databasename', 'myadmin', 'yourpassword', $options);

Python (MySQLConnector Python)

try:
    conn = mysql.connector.connect(user='myadmin',
                                   password='<password>',
                                   database='quickstartdb',
                                   host='mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com',
                                   ssl_ca='/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem')
except mysql.connector.Error as err:
    print(err)

Python (PyMySQL)

conn = pymysql.connect(user='myadmin',
                       password='<password>',
                       database='quickstartdb',
                       host='mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com',
                       ssl={'ca': '/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem'})

Django (PyMySQL)

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': 'quickstartdb',
        'USER': 'myadmin',
        'PASSWORD': 'yourpassword',
        'HOST': 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com',
        'PORT': '3306',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'ssl': {'ca': '/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem'}
        }
    }
}

Ruby

client = Mysql2::Client.new(
        :host     => 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com',
        :username => 'myadmin',
        :password => 'yourpassword',
        :database => 'quickstartdb',
        :sslca => '/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem'
    )

Golang

rootCertPool := x509.NewCertPool()
pem, _ := ioutil.ReadFile("/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem")
if ok := rootCertPool.AppendCertsFromPEM(pem); !ok {
    log.Fatal("Failed to append PEM.")
}
mysql.RegisterTLSConfig("custom", &tls.Config{RootCAs: rootCertPool})
var connectionString string
connectionString = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s@tcp(%s:3306)/%s?allowNativePasswords=true&tls=custom",'myadmin' , 'yourpassword', 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com', 'quickstartdb')
db, _ := sql.Open("mysql", connectionString)

Java (MySQL Connector for Java)

# generate truststore and keystore in code

String importCert = " -import "+
    " -alias mysqlServerCACert "+
    " -file " + ssl_ca +
    " -keystore truststore "+
    " -trustcacerts " +
    " -storepass password -noprompt ";
String genKey = " -genkey -keyalg rsa " +
    " -alias mysqlClientCertificate -keystore keystore " +
    " -storepass password123 -keypass password " +
    " -dname CN=MS ";
sun.security.tools.keytool.Main.main(importCert.trim().split("\\s+"));
sun.security.tools.keytool.Main.main(genKey.trim().split("\\s+"));

# use the generated keystore and truststore

System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStore","path_to_keystore_file");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword","password");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStore","path_to_truststore_file");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword","password");

url = String.format("jdbc:mysql://%s/%s?serverTimezone=UTC&useSSL=true", 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com', 'quickstartdb');
properties.setProperty("user", 'myadmin');
properties.setProperty("password", 'yourpassword');
conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, properties);

Java (MariaDB Connector for Java)

# generate truststore and keystore in code

String importCert = " -import "+
    " -alias mysqlServerCACert "+
    " -file " + ssl_ca +
    " -keystore truststore "+
    " -trustcacerts " +
    " -storepass password -noprompt ";
String genKey = " -genkey -keyalg rsa " +
    " -alias mysqlClientCertificate -keystore keystore " +
    " -storepass password123 -keypass password " +
    " -dname CN=MS ";
sun.security.tools.keytool.Main.main(importCert.trim().split("\\s+"));
sun.security.tools.keytool.Main.main(genKey.trim().split("\\s+"));

# use the generated keystore and truststore

System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStore","path_to_keystore_file");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword","password");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStore","path_to_truststore_file");
System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword","password");

url = String.format("jdbc:mariadb://%s/%s?useSSL=true&trustServerCertificate=true", 'mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com', 'quickstartdb');
properties.setProperty("user", 'myadmin');
properties.setProperty("password", 'yourpassword');
conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, properties);

.NET (MySqlConnector)

var builder = new MySqlConnectionStringBuilder
{
    Server = "mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com",
    UserID = "myadmin",
    Password = "yourpassword",
    Database = "quickstartdb",
    SslMode = MySqlSslMode.VerifyCA,
    SslCa = "DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem",
};
using (var connection = new MySqlConnection(builder.ConnectionString))
{
    connection.Open();
}

Node.js

var fs = require('fs');
var mysql = require('mysql');
const serverCa = [fs.readFileSync("/var/www/html/DigiCertGlobalRootG2.crt.pem", "utf8")];
var conn=mysql.createConnection({
    host:"mydemoserver.mysql.database.azure.com",
    user:"myadmin",
    password:"yourpassword",
    database:"quickstartdb",
    port:3306,
    ssl: {
        rejectUnauthorized: true,
        ca: serverCa
    }
});
conn.connect(function(err) {
  if (err) throw err;
});

Related content

• Use MySQL Workbench with Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server
• Use PHP with Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server
• Create and manage virtual networks for Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server using the Azure CLI
• networking in Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server
• Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server firewall rules