--ssl

For the MySQL server, this option specifies that the server permits but does not require secure connections.

For MySQL client programs, this option permits but does not require the client to connect to the server using encryption. Therefore, this option is not sufficient in itself to cause a secure connection to be used. For example, if you specify this option for a client program but the server has not been configured to support secure connections, the client falls back to an unencrypted connection.

As a recommended set of options to enable secure connections, use at least --ssl-cert and --ssl-key on the server side and --ssl-ca on the client side. See Section 6.4.4, “Configuring MySQL to Use Secure Connections”.

--ssl may be implied by other --ssl-xxx options, as indicated in the descriptions for those options.

The --ssl option in negated form overrides other --ssl-xxx options and indicates that encryption should not be used. To do this, specify the option as --ssl=0 or a synonym (--skip-ssl, --disable-ssl). For example, you might have options specified in the [client] group of your option file to use secure connections by default when you invoke MySQL client programs. To use an unencrypted connection instead, invoke the client program with --ssl=0 on the command line to override the options in the option file.

To require use of secure connections by a MySQL account, use a GRANT statement for the account that includes at least a REQUIRE SSL clause. Connections for the account will be rejected unless MySQL supports secure connections and the server and client have been started with the proper secure-connection options.

The REQUIRE clause permits other encryption-related options, which can be used to enforce stricter requirements than REQUIRE SSL. For additional details about which command options may or must be specified by clients that connect using accounts configured using the various REQUIRE options, see the description of REQUIRE in Section 13.7.1.3, “GRANT Syntax”.

--ssl-ca=file_name

The path to a file in PEM format that contains a list of trusted SSL certificate authorities. This option implies --ssl.

If you use encryption when establishing a client connection, to tell the client not to authenticate the server certificate, specify neither --ssl-ca nor --ssl-capath. The server still verifies the client according to any applicable requirements established for the client account, and it still uses any --ssl-ca or --ssl-capath option values specified at server startup.

--ssl-capath=dir_name

The path to a directory that contains trusted SSL certificate authority certificates in PEM format. This option implies --ssl.

If you use encryption when establishing a client connection, to tell the client not to authenticate the server certificate, specify neither --ssl-ca nor --ssl-capath. The server still verifies the client according to any applicable requirements established for the client account, and it still uses any --ssl-ca or --ssl-capath option values specified at server startup.

MySQL distributions compiled using OpenSSL support the --ssl-capath option (see Section 6.4.1, “OpenSSL Versus yaSSL”). Distributions compiled using yaSSL do not because yaSSL does not look in any directory and does not follow a chained certificate tree. yaSSL requires that all components of the CA certificate tree be contained within a single CA certificate tree and that each certificate in the file has a unique SubjectName value. To work around this yaSSL limitation, concatenate the individual certificate files comprising the certificate tree into a new file and specify that file as the value of the --ssl-ca option.

--ssl-cert=file_name

The name of the SSL certificate file in PEM format to use for establishing a secure connection. This option implies --ssl.

--ssl-cipher=cipher_list

A list of permissible ciphers to use for connection encryption. If no cipher in the list is supported, encrypted connections will not work. This option implies --ssl.

For greatest portability, cipher_list should be a list of one or more cipher names, separated by colons. This format is understood both by OpenSSL and yaSSL. Examples:

--ssl-cipher=AES128-SHA
--ssl-cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-SHA

OpenSSL supports a more flexible syntax for specifying ciphers, as described in the OpenSSL documentation at http://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/ciphers.html. yaSSL does not, so attempts to use that extended syntax fail for a MySQL distribution compiled using yaSSL.

For information about which encryption ciphers MySQL supports, see Section 6.4.3, “Secure Connection Protocols and Ciphers”.

--ssl-key=file_name

The name of the SSL key file in PEM format to use for establishing a secure connection. This option implies --ssl.

If the MySQL distribution was compiled using OpenSSL and the key file is protected by a passphrase, the program prompts the user for the passphrase. The password must be given interactively; it cannot be stored in a file. If the passphrase is incorrect, the program continues as if it could not read the key. If the MySQL distribution was built using yaSSL and the key file is protected by a passphrase, an error occurs.

--ssl-mode=mode

This option is available only for client programs, not the server. It specifies the security state of the connection to the server:

The --ssl-mode option was added in MySQL 5.5.49.

--ssl-verify-server-cert

This option is available only for client programs, not the server. It causes the client to check the server's Common Name value in the certificate that the server sends to the client. The client verifies that name against the host name the client uses for connecting to the server, and the connection fails if there is a mismatch. For encrypted connections, this option helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. Verification is disabled by default.