How to Install MySQL Database on EC2 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

This guide walks you through how to install MySQL on an EC2 Ubuntu 22.04 instance, secure it, and configure remote access. Ubuntu 22.04 ships with MySQL 8.0 in its default repositories, so no extra repos are needed.

Prerequisites

• An EC2 instance running Ubuntu 22.04 — follow How to Deploy EC2 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on AWS if you need one
• SSH access to the instance
• EC2 security group with port 22 (SSH) open

Step 1: Install MySQL Server

sudo apt update && sudo apt install mysql-server -y

After installation, MySQL starts automatically. Verify it’s running:

sudo systemctl status mysql

Check the installed version:

mysql --version

Step 2: Secure the Installation

Run the MySQL security script. This removes test databases, disables anonymous users, and prevents remote root login:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

The script will ask you several questions. Recommended answers:

• VALIDATE PASSWORD component — press y to enable password strength validation
• Password validation policy — select 1 (MEDIUM) or higher
• Remove anonymous users — y
• Disallow root login remotely — y
• Remove test database — y
• Reload privilege tables — y

Step 3: Create a Database and User

On Ubuntu 22.04, the MySQL root user authenticates via the auth_socket plugin by default. This means you connect as root using sudo without a password:

sudo mysql

Create a database and a dedicated user for your application:

CREATE DATABASE myapp_db;
CREATE USER 'myapp_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourStrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp_db.* TO 'myapp_user'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

• 'myapp_user'@'%' — the % means this user can connect from any host. To restrict to a specific IP, replace % with the IP address (e.g., 'myapp_user'@'203.0.113.10')
• GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp_db.* — grants full access to myapp_db only, not the entire server. Never grant ON *.* to application users

Step 4: Enable Remote Access

Skip this step if your application runs on the same EC2 instance as MySQL.

By default, MySQL only listens on 127.0.0.1 (localhost). To accept remote connections, edit the MySQL config:

sudo nano /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

Find the bind-address line and change it:

bind-address = 0.0.0.0

This makes MySQL listen on all network interfaces. If you only need connections from a specific IP, use that IP instead of 0.0.0.0.

Restart MySQL to apply the change:

sudo systemctl restart mysql

Open port 3306 in the EC2 security group

In the AWS Console, go to your EC2 instance’s security group and add an inbound rule:

• Type: MySQL/Aurora
• Port: 3306
• Source: the IP address or CIDR range of the client that needs access (do not use 0.0.0.0/0 — restrict it to known IPs)

Step 5: Test the Connection

From your local machine or another server, test the remote connection:

mysql -h 203.0.113.10 -u myapp_user -p

Replace 203.0.113.10 with your EC2 instance’s public IP. If the connection succeeds, you’ll see the MySQL prompt.

Useful MySQL Service Commands

Action	Command
Start MySQL	sudo systemctl start mysql
Stop MySQL	sudo systemctl stop mysql
Restart MySQL	sudo systemctl restart mysql
Enable on boot	sudo systemctl enable mysql
Check status	sudo systemctl status mysql

Conclusion

You now have MySQL 8.0 installed and secured on EC2 Ubuntu 22.04 with a dedicated database user and remote access configured. Next, you might want to automate MySQL backups to Amazon S3. If you ever need to start fresh, see How to Completely Remove (Purge) MySQL Database from Ubuntu 22.04.