Re: [cobalt-users] Creating MySql account

[Carrie Bartkowiak <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:04:02 -0300, Zarrir Junior mumbled something 
like:
>>1)What are the security issues i would have to worry about if i
>>allow Mysql
>>to his account? Do i have to necessarily give him shell access?

No security concerns, unless he plans on keeping credit card numbers 
in his database. At that point, your server becomes a more juicy 
target for hackers looking for that kind of thing.
No, you do not need to give him shell access. He can do absolutely 
everything he needs to do right through his browser with a PHP script 
called PHPMyAdmin. (Do a search for it on Google.)  The latest 
version is fantastic - much better than the one I've been using for 
the past year!

>>2)Should i consider an charging him for extra bandwidth
>>consumption, i mean,
>>does Mysql considerably consumes more bandwidth?

He will only use more bandwidth if he's connecting to the database 
from his home (which you're not going to allow).
Otherwise, no bandwidth at all is used, because MySql doesn't 
actually send anything out to the end-user (site visitor). A script, 
like PHP or CGI, will ask the database a question. MySql gives the 
answer back to the script itself - which then takes the data from the 
answer and formats it into something for the end-user to see.

However, you might charge a little extra just for having the database 
itself. I don't, but many hosts do - they take a free program like 
MySQL and free PHP and say "You've gotta pay more to use this stuff."
*grumble*

>>3)How exactly do i create his account? 
The easiest way to start managing your MySQL databases would be to 
grab yourself a copy of PHPMyAdmin and drop it into a 
password-protected folder in your /home/sites/home/web directory.
Open up config.php with an editor and input your username (root) and 
password.
Then go to that directory through your browser, and you'll 
immediately see (once you've gotten past the password challenge) the 
opportunity to create a new database. Let's say it's going to be 
named "bluewidgets". You'd type "bluewidgets" (no quotes) into the 
field there on the right-hand side of the page and hit the CREATE 
button.
It creates the database for you, and opens up a page where you can do 
further stuff with it. In the big textarea there, you're going to 
type (or copy/paste) the command to make a user *just* for the 
bluewidgets database. (He won't be able to access any other 
databases.) Type:
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, ALTER on 
bluewidgets.* TO clientusername@localhost IDENTIFIED by 
"clientusernamepassword";

So if the database is going to be called "bluewidgets", and the user 
who can access this database is going to be called "widgetboy", and 
that database user's password is going to be "ilovewidgets", your 
statement would look like this:
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, ALTER on 
bluewidgets.* TO widgetboy@localhost IDENTIFIED by "ilovewidgets";

Then you just hit the GO button at the bottom of that textarea and 
you're all set.
Tell the client you've created a database for him, and give him this 
info:
host: localhost
database: bluewidgets
user: widgetboy
pass: ilovewidgets

He can then do whatever he wants with his database, with no further 
interaction from you!

HTH...
--
CarrieB
Thanks for your quotes!
I'm now trying to find a way to randomize them automagically so I can 
use them all...