When using Data Manager you will likely need to connect to the underlying database that stores the data input by your users. You can find the connection information on the "Data Group" edit page, but first you'll need to create a readonly user (if one does not exist in the info.txt/info.json file found in the root directory of the Curator install).

Note: This will allow your readonly user to connect from anywhere. If you'd like to specify the IP address they can connect from replace the '%' with your IP address in the examples below to limit where they can query from.

Creating a Readonly MySQL User

1. Log into MySQL as the root user:

   Linux Run the command below on your server to login to mysql:

   mysql -u root -p

   Windows Navigate into MySQL root directory (e.g. C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\bin)

   C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\bin

   and then login to MySQL:

   mysql -u root -p

2. Create a new MySQL user:

Run the command below to create a new user that can run a connection from anywhere (replacing 'USER' and 'PASSWORD' with a username a password you'd like to use):

CREATE USER 'USER'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY ‘PASSWORD‘;

3. Grant read-only permission to the MySQL user

Run the command below to create a new user that can read data from anywhere (again replacing 'USER' 'PASSWORD' with a username a password you'd like to use and ):

GRANT SELECT, SHOW VIEW ON curator.* TO 'USER'@'%′ IDENTIFIED BY ‘PASSWORD‘;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

4. Be sure you keep these credentials secure, but also available for reference as they will be required to connect to your data.

Connecting to the Datamanager Database

1. Find the connection information for the table you would like to view in the top section of the edit "Data Group" page

   Database Name: curator Host Name: 127.0.0.1 Table Name: a_reports_data_group

2. Using the connection details from the "Creating a Readonly MySQL User" in the steps and use the database, hostname and table name from the previous step to connect to your MySQL datasource.

Troubleshooting Connections

1. Ensure your firewall rules allow inbound traffic over port 3306 to allow remote connections to your database. If you are having trouble connecting please contact your hosting team for further help.

2. By default, remote connections are not allowed on some operating systems (e.g. Ubuntu 20). You can run the commands below to set up remote connections:

   Determine the location of your MySQL config file by running the command below:

   mysql --help | grep "Default options" -A 1

   Open the file that is returned from these commands (i.e. /etc/my.cnf): Add the following line to the bottom of the file, where xxx.ip.xxx is replaced with your IP address, or you can use 0.0.0.0 to allow remote connections from anywhere:

    bind-address= xxx.ip.xxx

   Now save your file and restart mysql to allow remote connections:

   sudo systemctl restart mysql