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Since MySQL Workbench 6.0 isn’t available for Fedora, Version 20, I’m having my students install it on their local Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. You can configure the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file to enable port 3306 after installing MySQL on Fedora.

You can open a port by using the firewall-config utility (easy way) or by adding the following line to the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file (Fedora’s instructions on editing iptables [hard way]). The file won’t exist initially, but you can create it by running the following command as the root superuser or sudoer:

shell> service iptables save

You you can run the following commands as the root superuser, which saves the line in the iptables file:

shell> iptables -A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT
shell> iptables-save

After making the change to the /etc/iptables file you can change the firewall by running the following command as the root superuser:

shell> service iptables restart

Just make sure you don’t inadvertently start both iptables and ip6tables as services. You can check that only one is running by using the following commands:

shell> service iptables status
shell> service ip6tables status

MySQL Workbench Configuration

1. The first thing you need to do is click on the + symbol in the circle to the right of the MySQL Connections text label. It launches the Setup New Connection dialog.

2. The second thing you need to do is enter a Connection Name, Hostname, Port, and Username. Then, click the Test Connection button.

3. The Test Connection button launches the Connect to MySQL Server dialog. Enter the password for the student user (or whatever user you’re interested in), and then click the OK button.

4. When the credentials in the Connect to MySQL Server dialog work, you see the following confirmation dialog message. Click the OK button to continue and you’ll see a new VMWare Fedora Instance connection icon.

5. Click the VMWare Fedora Instance connection to start a new connection.

6. The VMWare Fedora Instance button launches the Connect to MySQL Server dialog. Like you did when configuring the connection, enter the password for the student user (or whatever user you’re interested in), and then click the OK button. It launches an interactive panel that lets you run, edit, or save the SQL script file.

7. Type the following two lines in the Query1 panel (at least if you have a studentdb database:

   USE studentdb; SELECT DATABASE();

   USE studentdb; SELECT database();