There are many graphical packages available to view MySQL data and perform database operations. You might not always have the ability to install a graphical package to work with the database so when you don’t you can use the command line interface which is just as powerful and must faster!
Command Line Interface
You can login to the MySQL command line interface using the mysql command and using the -u and -p flags. The -u flag is followed by the user wishing to login. Adding the -p flag will cause a password prompt to appear after executing the command.
mysql -u -p e.g. mysql -u root -p
When the password is entered then you’ll be successfully logged in and can start exploring the databases and execute queries.
Basic Operations
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
show databases; |
Display a list of all the databases that have been created. |
use DATABASE_NAME; |
Select a database to use where DATABASE_NAME is the name of the desired database. |
show tables; |
Display a list of tables that have been created. |
Now that you can select and use Databases you can start running your desired SQL queries and don’t forget the semicolon at the end of each query!
Jonathan Meaney 
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