Connecting to remote MySQL database with Laravel Forge and TablePlus

When a customer told us about a problem with the website we made, our team started looking into the database to fix it. We used Laravel Forge to deploy the website and had to connect to the MySQL production database using TablePlus and an SSH connection.

Deploying a Laravel Project with Laravel Forge

For a detailed guide on deploying a Laravel project, refer to our article "Deploying a Filament Project on DigitalOcean Using Laravel Forge". Connecting to a production database on Laravel Forge from your local computer using TablePlus can be a bit tricky at first.

Connecting TablePlus to MySQL Production Database

Uploading SSH Keys to Forge

First, ensure that your computer's SSH keys are uploaded to Forge to enable secure access to the server. If you haven't generated SSH keys on your computer, you can refer to the instructions provided here.

To copy your public SSH key, use the following command on your Mac:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

This command will display your public key, which you can then paste into Laravel Forge's SSH Keys section. Upload the key to your servers to authorize your computer's access to the server and database.

With the SSH key in place, you can now run this code from your terminal to log into your server. This also allows you to connect to the database hosted on your server.

ssh forge@<your_server_ip>

Connect TablePlus with the Production Database

To access your Forge-created database in TablePlus, navigate to your server in the Forge app and click on the Database tab in the sidebar. Copy the provided Database Connection URL and open it in a new tab.

You will get a prompt to open TablePlus. Click Open TablePlus.

The connection is denied because we haven't entered the password. You need to retrieve the database password sent to you by Forge via email when you created your server. Enter your server password as you can see in the example below and proceed.

We now have everything ready to allow TablePlus to establish the database connection. Test the connection, ensure the credentials are correct, and save the settings.

Note: If the SSH key authentication fails, import your private key by clicking "Import a private key" at the bottom of the edit screen in TablePlus. Point TablePlus to your secret ~/.ssh/id_rsa file to resolve the issue.

Conclusion

Once configured, you can now access and manage your Forge database using TablePlus on your local computer. This setup allows you to view and edit your production database remotely with ease.

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