So you updated MySQLd, or perhaps you just updated your distro, like to Ubuntu 20 LTS or whatever the latest and great flavor of the day is… And now you keep getting these pesky errors every time you try to use your website.
Error connecting to database: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2054] The server requested authentication method unknown to the client
You know you have the right username and password for your database. You can likely even connect to your db via the mysql command line.
Well, MySQL version 8 has some problems with certain versions of PHP. (For more details you can see this post from PHP.) MySQL changed the default password type, and older versions of PHP have not adapted to this yet.
The Fix
So how do you fix the “Error connecting to database: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2054] The server requested authentication method unknown to the client” error? Very easy!
Modify your mysqld.cnf file for your MySQLd daemon. This is typically someplace like /etc/mysql/. In Ubuntu 20 LTS it is in /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf
In Ubuntu 20 LTS use the following:
# echo 'default_authentication_plugin=mysql_native_password' >> /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf # systemctl restart mysql
The line above uses your shell to append (>>) the correct line to the mysqld.cnf file.
In other linux or *nix distributions:
Just edit your mysqld.cnf file and add the following line at the end:
default_authentication_plugin=mysql_native_password
Then restart the MySQL server using your system’s method for doing so. This is often something like:
# service mysql restart
Or perhaps:
# service mysqld restart
Or sometimes:
/etc/init.d/mysqld restart
On FreeBSD it would be something like:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server stop # /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server start
You get the idea, and can always web search for your OS.
Basically this tells MySQL to use the old password style by default and all your old PHP scripts should work just fine again. You will have fixed the “Error connecting to database: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2054] The server requested authentication method unknown to the client”
Enjoy.
