MySQL - Dokploy

MySQL is the world’s most popular open-source relational database. Dokploy provides seamless deployment and management of MySQL instances as Docker services.

Creating a MySQL Database

To create a MySQL database in Dokploy:

Navigate to your project
Select the environment
Click “Add Service” and select “MySQL”
Configure the database settings

Basic Configuration

Name - A friendly name for your database
App Name - The Docker service name (used for internal DNS)
Description - Optional description
Docker Image - Default: mysql:latest (recommended: mysql:8.0 or mysql:8.3)

Database Credentials

Database Name - Name of the database to create
Database User - Username for database access (can be root)
Database Password - Password for the user
Root Password - Password for the root user

These credentials are automatically configured via environment variables:

MYSQL_DATABASE
MYSQL_USER (if user is not root)
MYSQL_PASSWORD (if user is not root)
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD

Advanced Settings

External Port - Optional port to expose MySQL externally (default internal port: 3306)
Command - Override the default container command
Args - Additional arguments to pass to MySQL
Environment Variables - Additional custom environment variables

Connection Strings

Internal Connection (from other services)

When connecting from applications within the same Docker network:

mysql://[user]:[password]@[appName]:3306/[database]

Example:

mysql://myuser:mypassword@my-mysql:3306/myapp

External Connection

If you’ve configured an external port (e.g., 3307):

mysql://[user]:[password]@[host]:[externalPort]/[database]

Example:

mysql://myuser:[email protected]:3307/myapp

Connection String Formats

Standard URI
mysql Command
Node.js (mysql2)
Python (mysql-connector)
PHP (mysqli)

mysql://username:password@hostname:3306/database

mysql -h hostname -P 3306 -u username -p database

const mysql = require('mysql2');

const connection = mysql.createConnection({
  host: 'my-mysql',
  port: 3306,
  user: 'myuser',
  password: 'mypassword',
  database: 'myapp'
});

import mysql.connector

conn = mysql.connector.connect(
    host="my-mysql",
    port=3306,
    user="myuser",
    password="mypassword",
    database="myapp"
)

<?php
$conn = new mysqli(
    "my-mysql",
    "myuser",
    "mypassword",
    "myapp",
    3306
);
?>

Environment Variables

MySQL containers support these environment variables:

Variable	Description	Required
`MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD`	Root user password	Yes
`MYSQL_DATABASE`	Database to create on startup	Yes
`MYSQL_USER`	User to create (if not root)	No
`MYSQL_PASSWORD`	Password for MYSQL_USER	No
`MYSQL_ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD`	Allow root with empty password	No
`MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD`	Generate random root password	No

Dokploy automatically sets the required variables based on your configuration.

Data Persistence

MySQL data is stored in a Docker volume mounted at:

Mount Path: /var/lib/mysql
Volume Name: {appName}-data

The volume persists even when the container is stopped or removed.

Resource Configuration

Configure resource limits for your MySQL instance:

Memory Limit: 2GB        # Maximum memory
Memory Reservation: 1GB   # Guaranteed memory
CPU Limit: 2.0           # Maximum CPU cores
CPU Reservation: 0.5     # Guaranteed CPU cores

For production workloads, allocate at least 2GB of memory and 1 CPU core. MySQL can be memory-intensive with large datasets.

Operations

Starting the Database

Click the “Start” button in the Dokploy UI or use the API:

POST /api/mysql/start
{
  "mysqlId": "your-mysql-id"
}

Stopping the Database

Click the “Stop” button or use the API:

POST /api/mysql/stop
{
  "mysqlId": "your-mysql-id"
}

Reloading the Database

Reload applies configuration changes by stopping and starting the service:

POST /api/mysql/reload
{
  "mysqlId": "your-mysql-id"
}

Rebuilding the Database

Rebuilding will delete all data. Make sure to backup first!

POST /api/mysql/rebuild
{
  "mysqlId": "your-mysql-id"
}

Accessing MySQL CLI

To access the MySQL CLI in the running container:

docker exec -it $(docker ps -qf "name=my-mysql") mysql -u myuser -p myapp

Or use the Dokploy terminal feature in the UI.

Common MySQL Commands

-- List all databases
SHOW DATABASES;

-- Select database
USE database_name;

-- List all tables
SHOW TABLES;

-- Describe table structure
DESCRIBE table_name;

-- Show table creation statement
SHOW CREATE TABLE table_name;

-- Show current user
SELECT USER();

-- Show current database
SELECT DATABASE();

-- Create database
CREATE DATABASE new_database;

-- Create user
CREATE USER 'new_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

-- Grant privileges
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp.* TO 'myuser'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Backups

Dokploy provides automated backup functionality for MySQL. Backups are performed using mysqldump:

mysqldump -u username -p database > backup.sql

See the Backups page for detailed backup configuration.

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

Verify the service is running in Dokploy UI
Check the service name matches your appName
Ensure your application is in the same Docker network

Authentication Failed

Verify credentials in the database settings
Check if using root requires root as username
For external connections, ensure user has % host or specific IP

Character Encoding Issues

Set UTF-8 encoding in environment variables:

MYSQL_CHARSET=utf8mb4
MYSQL_COLLATION=utf8mb4_unicode_ci

Or use command args:

--character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci

Performance Issues

Check slow query log
Increase memory limits
Optimize queries and add indexes
Consider connection pooling

Best Practices

Use Specific Versions - Pin to specific MySQL versions (e.g., mysql:8.0.35) instead of latest
Strong Passwords - Use strong, randomly generated passwords for production
Regular Backups - Configure automated backups and test restoration
Monitor Resources - Watch memory and CPU usage, adjust limits as needed
Connection Limits - Set appropriate max_connections based on your workload
Slow Query Log - Enable and monitor slow query log for optimization
Security - Don’t expose MySQL externally unless necessary; use VPN or SSH tunnels

Performance Tuning

Add these environment variables or configuration options:

# InnoDB buffer pool (50-70% of memory)
innodb_buffer_pool_size=1G

# Log file size
innodb_log_file_size=256M

# Max connections
max_connections=150

# Query cache (deprecated in MySQL 8.0)
query_cache_size=0

# Thread cache
thread_cache_size=8

For MySQL 8.0+, many traditional optimizations are automatic. Focus on proper indexing and query optimization.

MySQL vs MariaDB

Both MySQL and MariaDB are supported in Dokploy. Consider:

MySQL - Official Oracle version, better for compatibility
MariaDB - Community fork, may have additional features

See the MariaDB documentation for MariaDB-specific information.

Next Steps

Backups

Configure automated MySQL backups

MariaDB

Learn about MariaDB as an alternative

Overview

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Deployments

Databases

Monitoring & Observability

Advanced Features

Configuration

CLI & Automation

Community & Support

​Creating a MySQL Database

​Basic Configuration

​Database Credentials

​Advanced Settings

​Connection Strings

​Internal Connection (from other services)

​External Connection

​Connection String Formats

​Environment Variables

​Data Persistence

​Resource Configuration

​Operations

​Starting the Database

​Stopping the Database

​Reloading the Database

​Rebuilding the Database

​Accessing MySQL CLI

​Common MySQL Commands

​Backups

​Troubleshooting

​Connection Refused

​Authentication Failed

​Character Encoding Issues

​Performance Issues

​Best Practices

​Performance Tuning

​MySQL vs MariaDB

​Next Steps

Backups

MariaDB

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Creating a MySQL Database

Basic Configuration

Database Credentials

Advanced Settings

Connection Strings

Internal Connection (from other services)

External Connection

Connection String Formats

Environment Variables

Data Persistence

Resource Configuration

Operations

Starting the Database

Stopping the Database

Reloading the Database

Rebuilding the Database

Accessing MySQL CLI

Common MySQL Commands

Backups

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

Authentication Failed

Character Encoding Issues

Performance Issues

Best Practices

Performance Tuning

MySQL vs MariaDB

Next Steps