MySQL on your VPS, with fine-grained user control

Here's what it looks like in the panel

MySQL without the console

And root over SSH for everything else.

• Safe install: If you don't set the root password, a strong random one is generated.
• Service status: Running or not, version, port 3306, and how many databases and users.
• Clean database list: List them with the system ones hidden, create, drop, and see size in MB and table count.
• Users with origin control: Local only (the default), from any host, or from a subnet like 192.168.1.%.
• Clear permissions: ALL, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER and more, per database or across all of them. You see every GRANT a user has.
• Changes apply instantly: Permissions take effect without running FLUSH PRIVILEGES.
• Tables and rows: List tables and read the latest rows (up to 1000) from the panel.
• Web manager: Editable data grid, read-only SQL console, EXPLAIN, CSV and Excel import and export. A modern alternative to phpMyAdmin.
• Port 3306 stays closed: To reach it from another server you use an encrypted SSH tunnel, not a firewall rule and an IP list to maintain.
• Real root over SSH: mysql, mysqldump, my.cnf: the whole server is still yours. The panel covers the day-to-day.

From zero to a database for your app

1. Install MySQL: One click, with a strong root password.
2. Create the database: Named after your project.
3. Create the user: Local for your app, or with access from a specific subnet.
4. Grant permissions: Only the ones you need, applied instantly.
5. Connect from another VPS: With an SSH tunnel, the database shows up on the other server's localhost without opening 3306.

How it works under the hood, and what to watch for

• By default users are local only. Remote access is enabled deliberately and per user: from any host, or restricted to a subnet like 192.168.1.%.
• Even with remote access enabled, the advice is not to publish 3306: to let another VPS use the database there is the SSH tunnel between VPS, which puts it on the other server's localhost.
• Permissions apply instantly, no FLUSH PRIVILEGES. Each user's detail view shows all of their GRANTs together.
• If you don't set the root password at install time, a strong random one is generated and shown to you when it finishes.
• Usernames accept lowercase letters, numbers and underscores.
• Needs systemd and a Debian or Ubuntu base. Verified in production on Ubuntu 22.04 and compatible with 18.04, 20.04 and 24.04.
• It is not available on Ubuntu 26.04: that version ships MySQL 8.4, which by default blocks the mysql_native_password accounts the installer creates. Not on 16.04 either, because systemd 229 won't start on a host with cgroup v2.
• The web manager needs Ubuntu 22.04 or later, because its tunnel relies on sshd_config.d.
• The database is included in the VPS backup; if you want your own mysqldump with your own retention, you set it up as a scheduled task.
• Real root over SSH: the panel is a shortcut, not a cage. Anything it does with a button, you can also do by hand.

Or just ask Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Everything you see in the panel, your AI agent can do through the ArduMaker MCP server: with your authorization, within the scope you grant, and with every action audited. See what the MCP does

Frequently asked questions

Services that go well together

• Database manager: A web grid for PostgreSQL and MySQL: edit rows, run SQL and EXPLAIN, and import/export CSV and Excel over a private tunnel.
• PostgreSQL: Install PostgreSQL and manage databases, users and permissions without the command line.
• Automatic backups: A full live backup every week, the last 4 kept, and a final copy when you delete the VPS.