This page describes how Cloud SQL works with MySQL users. MySQL user accounts provide security by controlling access to MySQL databases.
For complete documentation about MySQL users, see the MySQL documentation. For information about creating and managing Cloud SQL users, see Creating and Managing Users.
Why you need MySQL user accounts
MySQL user accounts enable you to log in to and administer your Cloud SQL instance. User accounts are also required for applications to access your instance.
Superuser restrictions
In Cloud SQL, customers cannot create or access users with superuser attributes.
Because Cloud SQL for MySQL is a managed service, it restricts access to certain system procedures and tables.
Data Manipulation Language (DML) and Data Definition Language (DDL) privileges are restricted on some schema tables.
Here's the list of MySQL 5.6 system tables in the
mysql schema that require write permissions:
audit_log_rules_expanded
, audit_log_supported_ops
, audit_log_rules
,
cloudsql_replica_index
, db
, event
, func
, heartbeat
, plugin
, proc
,
user
, and tables_priv
.
For MySQL 5.7, here's the list:
audit_log_rules_expanded
, audit_log_supported_ops
, audit_log_rules
,
cloudsql_replica_index
, db
, event
, func
, gtid_executed
,
heartbeat
, plugin
, proc
, user
, and tables_priv
.
For related information about MySQL 8.0, see MySQL 8.0 user privileges (cloudsqlsuperuser).
MySQL user account format
MySQL user accounts have two components: a user name and a host name. The user name identifies the user, and the host name specifies what hosts that user can connect from. The user name and host name are combined to create a user account:
'<user_name>'@'<host_name>'
You can specify a specific IP address or address range for host name, or use the percent character ("%") to leave the host name unrestricted. Note that if you connect to your instance using IP addresses, you must add your client IP address as an Authorized Address, even if your user's host name is unrestricted.
User accounts are defined by both the user name and the host name. For
example, 'user'@'%'
is a different user account than
'user'@'localhost'
.
Default MySQL user
Upon creation, MySQL instances have one default user account:
'root'@'%'
. You use this account to connect to and manage the
database instance for the first time. The default user has all database
privileges except for
SUPER
and
FILE. In Cloud SQL, you
can't rename 'root'@'%'
.
The default for root'@'%
is no password, and MySQL does not require you to use
a password for root'@'%
. However, because root'@'%
exists on most MySQL
installations, the root'@'%
user is a common target for unauthorized access.
Any person or program that gains access to your instance has almost
unlimited access to, and control over, your instance and data. For this reason,
we recommend you configure your root'@'%
user with a strong password or delete
this user. For help with configuring the default user account, see
Configure the default user account.
System users
There are seven system users:
root@localhost
,[email protected]
,root@::1
Used to provide the managed database service.
cloudsqlreplica@%
Used as a replication user for replicas.
cloudsqlimport@localhost
Used for data imports.
cloudsqlexport@localhost
Used for data exports.
cloudsqloneshot
Used for other database operations.
cloudsqlapplier@localhost
Used for replication operations in external server replica or cross major version replication.
cloudsqlobservabilityadmin
Used for database observability.
You cannot delete or modify these users.
Other MySQL user accounts
You can also create other MySQL user accounts. This is a good practice because it lets you use different MySQL user accounts for different purposes.
You can create a user account with a restricted hostname, or use SQL commands to limit privileges on your user accounts.
For more information about user account names, see the MySQL documentation. To create a new MySQL user, see Create a user.
MySQL 5.6 and 5.7 user privileges
MySQL provides fine-grained privileges you can grant or remove for a user. This enables you to control what a user can do on your instance.
Users created using Cloud SQL have the same privileges as the
default MySQL user. You can change their privileges by using the
GRANT
or
REVOKE
statements.
When you use the mysql
client to create a user, you must explicitly grant that
user privileges with the GRANT
statement.
For more information about the privileges supported by MySQL, see Privileges Provided by MySQL.
MySQL 8.0 user privileges (cloudsqlsuperuser
)
In MySQL 8.0 for Cloud SQL, when you create a new user, the user is
automatically granted the cloudsqlsuperuser
role. The cloudsqlsuperuser
role
is a Cloud SQL role that contains a number of MySQL privileges. This role
gives the user all of the MySQL static privileges, except for SUPER
and FILE
.
The cloudsqlsuperuser
role only supports the following dynamic privileges based on MySQL 8.0 minor versions:
MySQL 8.0.18
MySQL 8.0.26
MySQL 8.0.27
MySQL 8.0.28
APPLICATION_PASSWORD_ADMIN
CONNECTION_ADMIN
ROLE_ADMIN
SET_USER_ID
XA_RECOVER_ADMIN
CLOUDSQL_SPECIAL_VARIABLES_ADMIN
FLUSH_OPTIMIZER_COSTS
FLUSH_STATUS
FLUSH_TABLES
FLUSH_USER_RESOURCES
INNODB_REDO_LOG_ENABLE
SHOW_ROUTINE
AUTHENTICATION_POLICY_ADMIN
GROUP_REPLICATION_STREAM
PASSWORDLESS_USER_ADMIN
AUDIT_ABORT_EXEMPT
MySQL 8.0.29 (deprecated)
APPLICATION_PASSWORD_ADMIN
CONNECTION_ADMIN
ROLE_ADMIN
SET_USER_ID
XA_RECOVER_ADMIN
CLOUDSQL_SPECIAL_VARIABLES_ADMIN
FLUSH_OPTIMIZER_COSTS
FLUSH_STATUS
FLUSH_TABLES
FLUSH_USER_RESOURCES
INNODB_REDO_LOG_ENABLE
SHOW_ROUTINE
AUTHENTICATION_POLICY_ADMIN
GROUP_REPLICATION_STREAM
PASSWORDLESS_USER_ADMIN
AUDIT_ABORT_EXEMPT
SENSITIVE_VARIABLES_OBSERVER
MySQL 8.0.30 and later
APPLICATION_PASSWORD_ADMIN
CONNECTION_ADMIN
ROLE_ADMIN
SET_USER_ID
XA_RECOVER_ADMIN
CLOUDSQL_SPECIAL_VARIABLES_ADMIN
FLUSH_OPTIMIZER_COSTS
FLUSH_STATUS
FLUSH_TABLES
FLUSH_USER_RESOURCES
INNODB_REDO_LOG_ENABLE
SHOW_ROUTINE
AUTHENTICATION_POLICY_ADMIN
GROUP_REPLICATION_STREAM
PASSWORDLESS_USER_ADMIN
AUDIT_ABORT_EXEMPT
SENSITIVE_VARIABLES_OBSERVER
FIREWALL_EXEMPT
The cloudsqlsuperuser
role doesn't support any Data Definition Language (DDL)
operations on the mysql
system database.
To see a complete list of privileges granted to the cloudsqlsuperuser
role,
execute the SHOW GRANTS
statement in the mysql
client:
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'cloudsqlsuperuser'
What's next
- Configure the
root
user account for your instance. - Create and manage users.
- Create and manage databases.
- See the MySQL documentation about MySQL users.
- See the MySQL documentation about privileges provided by MySQL.
- Learn about options for connecting to your instance.