How to pull and setup the MySQL using docker on Ubuntu

In this tutorial, we are going to set up the MySQL 8 server using Docker.

First, verify the Docker installation using the following command.

bash

docker -v

Pulling the MySQL image

Let's pull the MySQL 8 from Docker Hub

bash

sudo docker pull mysql:8.0

Output:

139627f60883: Pull complete 
Digest: sha256:d0304ed9fdb64a3f6c7ad11a5fb4f13abfc10e6dfa3f288d652e7320c34df7f9
Status: Downloaded newer image for mysql:8.0
docker.io/library/mysql:8.0

We can verify if the MySQL Docker image is pulled or not by using the following command:

bash

docker images

Running MySQL container

Use the following command to start the container

bash

sudo docker run -d \
  --name mysql-server \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_strong_password \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  mysql:8.0

-d: runs the container in the background
--name: this will be the name of your container
-e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: Set the root password
-p 3306:3306: Maps the port on Ubuntu to the port inside the container
--restart unless-stopped: the database starts automatically if the server reboots

Once succeed, verify it wheather the container is running or not:

bash

docker ps

We can see the output something like this:

455s5esf6f983   mysql:8.0   "docker-entrypoint.s…"   29 hours ago   Up 29 hours   0.0.0.0:3306->3306/tcp, [::]:3306->3306/tcp, 33060/tcp   mysql-server

Persist MySQL data

If we delete the container, the MySQL data inside the container will be deleted. This is not good in a production environment. So we need to map the directory on Ubuntu.

bash

sudo docker run -d \
  --name mysql-server \
  -v /my/local/directory:/var/lib/mysql \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_strong_password \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  mysql:8.0

Using a shared Docker network

When we are running an application that needs to connect to this container, we need to put it into the same Docker network. By default, standalone containers run on the bridge network. In order to create the Docker network, use the following command.

bash

docker network create tutorial-net

Where tutorial-net is the shared network name.

Now update you docker command:

bash

sudo docker run -d \
  --name mysql-server \
  --network tutorial-net \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_strong_password \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  mysql:8.0

Now, when we set up the other container, we will use the same network so they can communicate with each other.

Accessing MySQL Shell

To create a database for MySQL users, we can use the MySQL shell.

bash

sudo docker exec -it mysql-server mysql -u root -p

Commands for MySQL server

Check Status:

bash

sudo docker ps

Stop the database:

bash

sudo docker stop mysql-server

Where mysql-server is the name of the MySQL container.

Start the database:

bash

sudo docker start mysql-server

View MySQL server logs:

bash

sudo docker logs mysql-server

Using Docker to containerize MySQL will help make its installation easy. By utilizing the volume and port mapping, we can build a robust database environment.