My install notes…

sudo -s
aptitude update
aptitude install --with-recommends mysql-server-5.6

You will be prompted to set a ‘root’ password for the database server. Remember this password.

cd /etc/mysql
cp my.cnf my.cnf.orig # Can never be too careful!

Edit the my.cnf file and change the line so that mysql is visible/usable on your network:

bind-address = 127.0.0.1

to

bind-address = 0.0.0.0

Restart MySql with the configuration change:

service mysql restart

Now double check that mysql is listening

netstat -anp | grep 3306

If all is well you should get something like:

tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:3306 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 3777/mysqld

Now login as root and create a regular user who can access the database system over the network

mysql --user=root mysql -p
mysql> CREATE USER 'someusername'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'somepassword';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'someusername'@'%' WITH GRANT OPTION;

You should now be able to connect from your workstation to the database server with the credentials someusername and somepassword. This user has a LOT of access rights.

Word to the wise… Take the time to set permissions properly on your database users!