Accessing MySQL on csdb
Here are last year's specs; they'll be updated to reflect the current term's.
You may of course use your personal copy of MySQL for your project work. Alternatively, you are welcome to use the departmental copy, which (like Oracle), is visible on csdb. Most of the instructions below pertain to MySQL on csdb.
There are three ways you can use it: while you're logged on csdb, from the command prompt on Windows systems that have mysql.exe, and from a friendly front end (for example, MySQL-front) on Windows systems that have them.
Regardless of which environment you're using, your username for this software is the same as your UNIX login, and your password is the string "SP" followed by your Villanova id number (remember: that's not your social security number; it's your "Banner" ID as displayed in Novasis). That's similar to your UNIX one, but not identical: your UNIX password has the "@" symbol between SP and your VU ID.) Also, the host is always csdb.csc.villanova.edu.
Whether you're using the command line in a UNIX
shell on csdb or the command line on Windows, you should enter
mysql -u username [-h hostname] -D username -p(In other words, it's not necessary to include the hostname switch if you're doing this on csdb itself.) You'll be prompted for your password. Note that if you're in Windows, then you should be in the folder that has mysql.exe. If you're on csdb, then your search path should include /usr/local/mysql/bin (or else invoke mysql by its "fully-qualified pathname": /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql).
If you're using MySQL-front, then you might need to enter 3306 as the port. The hostname is csdb.csc.villanova.edu, the database has the same name as your username, and for credentials enter your username and assigned password.
mysql.exe and MySQL-front (like ssh) are available for students to download at csc.villanova.edu. These may be older software versions, but they don't have time limits, and they work just fine.
Off-campus access is also possible through the Villanova VPN. Instructions are at gateway.villanova.edu.
Naturally, you might also want to try using other nifty tools (php comes to mind) to access a MySQL back end.