# mysql_connect

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

mysql_connect — Open a connection to a MySQL Server

Warning

This extension was deprecated in PHP 5.5.0, and it was removed in PHP 7.0.0. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide and related FAQ for more information. Alternatives to this function include:

- mysqli_connect()
- PDO::__construct()

### Description

mysql_connect ([ string `$server` = ini_get("mysql.default_host") [, string `$username` = ini_get("mysql.default_user") [, string `$password` = ini_get("mysql.default_password") [, bool `$new_link` = `FALSE` [, int `$client_flags` = 0 ]]]]] ) : resource

Opens or reuses a connection to a MySQL server.

### Parameters

`server`

  The MySQL server. It can also include a port number. e.g. "hostname:port" or a path to a local socket e.g. ":/path/to/socket" for the localhost.

  If the PHP directive mysql.default_host is undefined (default), then the default value is 'localhost:3306'. In SQL safe mode, this parameter is ignored and value 'localhost:3306' is always used.

`username`

  The username. Default value is defined by mysql.default_user. In SQL safe mode, this parameter is ignored and the name of the user that owns the server process is used.

`password`

  The password. Default value is defined by mysql.default_password. In SQL safe mode, this parameter is ignored and empty password is used.

`new_link`

  If a second call is made to mysql_connect() with the same arguments, no new link will be established, but instead, the link identifier of the already opened link will be returned. The `new_link` parameter modifies this behavior and makes mysql_connect() always open a new link, even if mysql_connect() was called before with the same parameters. In SQL safe mode, this parameter is ignored.

`client_flags`

  The `client_flags` parameter can be a combination of the following constants: 128 (enable LOAD DATA LOCAL handling), `MYSQL_CLIENT_SSL`, `MYSQL_CLIENT_COMPRESS`, `MYSQL_CLIENT_IGNORE_SPACE` or `MYSQL_CLIENT_INTERACTIVE`. Read the section about MySQL client constants for further information. In SQL safe mode, this parameter is ignored.

### Return Values

Returns a MySQL link identifier on success or `FALSE` on failure.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
5.5.0 | This function will generate an `E_DEPRECATED` error.

### Examples

Example #1 mysql_connect() example

`<?php
$link = mysql_connect('localhost', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>`

Example #2 mysql_connect() example using hostname:port syntax

`<?php
// we connect to example.com and port 3307
$link = mysql_connect('example.com:3307', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
// we connect to localhost at port 3307
$link = mysql_connect('127.0.0.1:3307', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>`

Example #3 mysql_connect() example using ":/path/to/socket" syntax

`<?php
// we connect to localhost and socket e.g. /tmp/mysql.sock
// variant 1: omit localhost
$link = mysql_connect(':/tmp/mysql', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
// variant 2: with localhost
$link = mysql_connect('localhost:/tmp/mysql.sock', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo 'Connected successfully';
mysql_close($link);
?>`

### Notes

> Note:

> Whenever you specify "localhost" or "localhost:port" as server, the MySQL client library will override this and try to connect to a local socket (named pipe on Windows). If you want to use TCP/IP, use "127.0.0.1" instead of "localhost". If the MySQL client library tries to connect to the wrong local socket, you should set the correct path as in your PHP configuration and leave the server field blank.

> Note:

> The link to the server will be closed as soon as the execution of the script ends, unless it's closed earlier by explicitly calling mysql_close().

> Note:

> Error "Can't create TCP/IP socket (10106)" usually means that the variables_order configure directive doesn't contain character E. On Windows, if the environment is not copied the SYSTEMROOT environment variable won't be available and PHP will have problems loading Winsock.

### See Also

- mysql_pconnect() - Open a persistent connection to a MySQL server
- mysql_close() - Close MySQL connection