MySQL Bugs: #50098: Remote Server Administration via non SSH Connection

Bug #50098	Remote Server Administration via non SSH Connection
Submitted:	6 Jan 2010 1:36	Modified:	5 Feb 2010 17:15
Reporter:	Azizur Rahman	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Workbench: Administration	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	5.2.11 OSS Beta - Revision 4842	OS:	Any
Assigned to:	Maksym Yehorov	CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	Remote Server Administration, ssh

Description:
Hi

I just downloaded the mentioned version of workbench.

I am able to query the database but when I tried to set up a connection with SSH it fails. Windows Servers don't have SSH.

I wondered if there is support of normal tcp/ip connection for Remote Server Administration.

This software is no use to me if I cant connect and get a backup and also import from backup into remote servers.

Also to note shared hosting services does not allow restarting or killing the mysql process running on the server.

How to repeat:
1) Create Remote Server Administration connection using "New Server Instance"

Follow the steps to on the wizard...

You should be able to use the backup/restore functionality, as well as the connection-status from Workbench without the need for an SSH server on your mysql-server machine. Though, to use the full functionality of the administration plugin (editing the config file, viewing server status, starting/stopping the server), the installation of a ssh daemon is needed for Qorkbench to connect securely to your box and run the desired commands to fetch machine status and start/stop the server.

Thanks for your report, this is currently not working because the administration doesn't start when SSH connection to the machine can't be established.
(Additionally, the new-server-instance-wizard doesn't take into account when user unchecks the "Enable SSH login based administration" box on 3rd wizard page. testing the admin connection, and the sections for the config files and start/stop commands should be skipped in that case)

Hi,

I think, at least "Accounts", "Connections", "Variables" and "Data Dump" should be available without SSH - just as it was with MySQL Administrator. Currently only "Data Dump" is available. 
Why should a DBA - being able to Manage Schemas and Users - be required to have a SSH Shell account on the target Server?

One thing I would say is if this software is meant to be used instead of EOL Administrator GUI then this does not perform what EOL Administrator did.

And for even to suggest the everyone must use this software is kind of misleading. We should have workbench instance mangers work better then EOL Administrator before we force new used to start using it.

Not really happy about it.

There are couple of other issues my I am finding lately with mysql... which I'd not mention it here, but giving me bad impression of mysql.

Partially fixed workflow w/o SSH. It is possible to connect to servers which have no ssh server

Let me do some comments:

First of all Workbench is an open source product. It is running under GPL.

Connection without SSH:
Without Workbench .. how will you connect to your remote server and change configure files or something else?

Telnet is not really safe.

Without SSH the following parts of Workbench Adminsitartor are available:
 - Accounts
 - Connections
 - Variable
 - Data dump
 - Server Health

To have the rest a SSH server must be be setup and running on remote Windows box.

I've reviewed this and fixed it so that the above mentioned parts work without an SSH connection.
Also added some descriptive labels for parts that are not available either because of no SSH or no DB connection.

fix confirmed

Bug #50896 has been marked as duplicate of this one.

An entry has been added to the 5.2.16 changelog:

When a non-SSH server instance was created, and a connection made to a remote server, only the Data Dump facility of the Administrator was available. The same problem occurred if SSH-based administration was deselected for the server instance.