Installation Process and Initial Setup

First, remove any existing MariaDB installations that might conflict:

yum remove mariadb-libs.x86_64

Download the MySQL repository configuration package:

cd /tmp
wget https://dev.mysql.com/get/mysql80-community-release-el7-2.noarch.rpm

Install the downloaded repository:

yum localinstall mysql80-community-release-el7-2.noarch.rpm

Proceed with MySQL server installatoin:

yum install mysql-community-server

Verify MySQL service status:

ps -ef | grep mysql

Service control commands:

service mysqld start    # Start MySQL
service mysqld restart  # Restart MySQL
service mysqld stop     # Stop MySQL

Retrieve the temporary root password generated during installation:

grep 'temporary password' /var/log/mysqld.log

Connect to MySQL using the root user:

mysql -u root -p

Password Policy Configuration

When attempting to view databases immediately after login, you may encounter a password reset requirement:

SHOW DATABASES;
-- Error: You must reset your password using ALTER USER statement

To simplify the password policy for development environments:

-- Set temporary simple password
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'simplepass';

-- Disable password complexity requirements
SET GLOBAL validate_password.policy = LOW;
SET GLOBAL validate_password.length = 4;

-- Set final password
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mysql';

Enabling Remote Access

To allow remote connnections to the MySQL server, modify the user permissions:

mysql -u root -p
USE mysql;

-- Allow root access from any host
UPDATE user SET host = '%' WHERE user = 'root' AND host = 'localhost';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'root'@'%';

-- Apply changes
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Restart the MySQL service for changes to take effect:

service mysqld restart

Note: If encountering authentication protocol errors with older clients like Navicat 11.1.13, upgrade to a newer client version that supporst MySQL 8.0's authentication mechanism.

General Query Log Configuration

Enable MySQL's general query log to monitor all SQL statements:

-- Connect to MySQL and execute:
SET GLOBAL general_log_file = '/tmp/mysql_general.log';
SET GLOBAL general_log = 'ON';

To disable logging:

SET GLOBAL general_log = 'OFF';

Monitor the log in real-time from another terminal:

tail -f /tmp/mysql_general.log