Troubleshooting MySQL 4.x Database Connectivity in WinSyslog#

Question#

I am facing a problem while writing to a MySQL 4.x database using the Write to Database action in WinSyslog. What should I do?

Answer#

This issue is related to the MySQL authentication protocol introduced in MySQL 4.1 and above. The protocol uses a password hashing algorithm that is not compatible with the one used by older clients and stores passwords differently compared to older versions. If you upgrade your MySQL server to 4.x and try to connect with an older client, the connection may fail.

You can resolve this by using one of the following options.

Option 1: Upgrade Client Libraries#

Upgrade all client programs to use the 4.1.1 or newer client library. This ensures compatibility with the new authentication protocol used by MySQL 4.x servers.

Option 2: Use Pre-4.1 Style Passwords#

Note

The OLD_PASSWORD() function uses a less secure hashing algorithm than the MySQL 4.1+ method. Upgrading your client libraries (Option 1) is the preferred solution from a security standpoint.

If you need to continue using a pre-4.1 client program with WinSyslog, reset the MySQL user password using the OLD_PASSWORD() function.

Using SET PASSWORD:

SET PASSWORD FOR
'someuser_abc'@'somehost_xyz' = OLD_PASSWORD('somenewpwd');

Using UPDATE and FLUSH PRIVILEGES:

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password = OLD_PASSWORD('somenewpwd')
WHERE Host = 'somehost_xyz' AND User = 'someuser_abc';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace somenewpwd with the password you want to use. You cannot retrieve your old password from MySQL, so select a new one.

Option 3: Configure the Server for Older Password Hashing#

Configure your MySQL server to use the older password hashing algorithm:

  1. Start mysqld with the --old-passwords option.

  2. Identify accounts that have updated their passwords to the longer 4.1 format using the following query:

    SELECT host, user, password FROM mysql.user
WHERE LENGTH(Password) > 16;

  3. Reset the password for the accounts returned by the query using the OLD_PASSWORD() function. You can use either SET PASSWORD or UPDATE as described in Option 2.