DB SSH Tunneling for Laravel

db_ssh_tunneling.md

1. Generate SSH Key Pair on the Laravel Server:

On your new server (with the Laravel application), run the following commands to generate an SSH key pair:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

By default, this will create two files in the ~/.ssh directory:

• id_rsa: your private key. Keep it secret!
• id_rsa.pub: your public key. You'll share this with other servers/services.

2. Copy the Public Key to the Old Server:

On the new Laravel server, run:

ssh-copy-id [username]@[old_server_ip]

This will copy the public key (id_rsa.pub) to the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the old server.

Replace [username] with the username on the old server and [old_server_ip] with the old server's IP address.

3. Setting up SSH Tunneling for MySQL Connection:

To setup SSH tunneling, you'd use the following structure:

ssh -f -N -L [local_port]:127.0.0.1:[remote_mysql_port] [username]@[old_server_ip]

For example, if you're using the default MySQL port (3306):

ssh -f -N -L 3307:127.0.0.1:3306 [username]@[old_server_ip]

Now, the local server (Laravel) will forward any traffic on its port 3307 to the old server's MySQL port (3306).

4. Sample DATABASE_URL for Laravel:

In your .env file or wherever you're setting your environment variables, you'd set up the DATABASE_URL like this:

DATABASE_URL=mysql://[mysql_user]:[mysql_password]@127.0.0.1:3307/[database_name]

OR

SSH username: username SSH server IP: [old_server_ip] MySQL username: [mysql_user] MySQL database name: [database_name] The connection string format would be:

DATABASE_URL=mysql+ssh://username@[old_server_ip]/[mysql_user]@127.0.0.1/[database_name]?usePrivateKey=true

• Replace [mysql_user] with your MySQL username.
• Replace [mysql_password] with your MySQL password.
• Replace [database_name] with the name of your MySQL database.

The key point here is that you're connecting to 127.0.0.1 on port 3307, which will be tunneled to the old server's MySQL through SSH.

Notes:

1. Security: Ensure that you don't expose MySQL to the internet on your old server. Ideally, it should only listen to localhost (127.0.0.1).

2. SSH Key Security: Make sure your private key (id_rsa) remains private. Never share it, and always secure your server environments.

3. MySQL Users: Ensure the MySQL user you're connecting with has the necessary permissions for your Laravel application (e.g., SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE).

4. Tunneling: The SSH tunnel command given above is for a one-time setup. If the connection drops or the server reboots, you'd need to set it up again. Consider using a tool or service that can ensure the tunnel is always active or look into automated solutions if it becomes a problem.

5. SSH Client Configuration: You can also use ~/.ssh/config to make SSH connections (and tunneling) easier with shortcuts.

6. Database Configuration in Laravel: While you can use the DATABASE_URL for configurations, Laravel's .env also provides individual configuration options like DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, and DB_PASSWORD which you can use in place of or in conjunction with the DATABASE_URL.