Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock’ (2)

I'm getting the following error when I run mysql -u root -p

Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)


How do I solve this problem under CentOS / RHEL / Red Hat Enterprise Linux server 5.x or 6.x?

To solve this problem take the following steps.

Is MySQL Running?

Type the following command

# service mysqld status

If mysqld is not running, start it:

# service mysqld start

Try mysql command again as follows:

$ mysql -u USER -p

Is MySQL Installed?

Make sure the package mysql-server is installed:

# rpm -qa mysql-server

Sample outputs:

mysql-server-5.1.61-4.el6.x86_64

If you do not see package name, type the following command to install mysql-server:

# yum install mysql-server

Turn on mysqld to start automatically on boot:

# chkconfig mysqld on

Run mysqld service, enter:

# service mysqld start

Set a new root password for mysql server:

# mysqladmin -u root password 'MySQL-Root-User-Password'