Asa @ 22 Off

Making Ruby on Rails and PHP connect to MySQL

I am developing a Ruby on Rails application that uses mysql as the database backend. Everything has been progressing well until I decided to hook up the PHP piece to the same mysql database. The PHP errors out with:

Warning: mysql_connect(): Client does not support authentication protocol requested by server; consider upgrading MySQL client in ... on line ...
Fatal error: Cannot connect to mySQL database: Client does not support authentication protocol requested by server; consider upgrading MySQL client in ... on line ...

Apparently, mysql has improved security via a new stronger authentication routine and the mysql (mysql-essential-4.1.14-win32.msi) install I used defaulted to the new routine and PHP (php-4.4.1-installer.exe) defaulted to the old routine. After googling around I found that I could force mysql to use the old authentication routine and fix the PHP issue by executing the following SQL:

use mysql;
update user set password = old_password('password') where user = 'root';
flush privileges;

The PHP scripts worked great, but when I went back and used the Ruby on Rails (RoR) piece I got the dreaded "Lost connection to MySQL server during query..." error. Grrr... I wanted both PHP and RoR to access mysql without issue.

The solution I came up with was to create a mysql account for php access and another for rails access. The php account was configured via:

use mysql;
update user set password = old_password('password') where user = 'phpuser';
flush privileges;

Now PHP and RoR access mysql without issue and they use a least privilege access approach (instead of using the super powerful mysql root account).

Happy New Year!

Mandy and I attended Rusty and Elizabeth's wedding on New Years Eve in Columbus. We celebrated our third anniversary on New Years Eve and at first I thought that Rusty copied my idea of having an easy to remember anniversary. Rusty works for the IRS. He calculated his taxes and since there was a tax advantage to be married in 2005 they tied the knot on New Years Eve. Otherwise, it would have been New Year's Day.

Rusty is a huge OSU fan and of course we attended an OSU event on his wedding day. We saw OSU play LSU in basketball. OSU was sloppy and LSU lead most of the game. At the very end OSU nailed a few three pointers and was in the game. OSU won by two in dramatic fashion. Rusty interpeted that this foreshadowed a tough marriage that came down to the wire but in the end was successful. Yikes! Thankfully OSU won and remained undefeated.

Aside: I was introduced to Effen (pronouced 'f' ing) vodka and I like it better than Vox. Both vodkas are from the Netherlands and are very refined leading to a smooth taste. I really enjoy drinking an 'f' ing drink.

Trash Talking

Comment from Chris:
"You know, it would have been a better display of your masculinity if you would have taken off your shirt and jumped in the lake...instead of just standing there like a couple of ......dingles. Tsk tsk tsk..."

Check out this photo of McWaters and I swimming in the Great Salt Lake in November of 2003. If the salt content wasn't so high, this water would have been frozen. (Water temperature was much colder than the mid-40s that start most waterski seasons and I didn't have the benefit of a wet suit or dry suit.)

Photo gallery from trip to California from Michigan