Install and Configure MySQL on CentOS 6.7

yum install mysql mysql-server

service mysqld start /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation

The MySQL Secure Installation process will walk you through initial security changes that should be put into place for your new MySQL instance.

Note: Chose a secure password and limit root access to localhost only.

mysql_secure_installation

Edit the /etc/my.cf file to match the following, limiting the server only to listen to local connections:

[mysqld]
bind-address = 127.0.0.1
datadir=/var/lib/mysql
socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock
user=mysql

# Disabling symbolic-links is recommended to prevent assorted security risks
symbolic-links=0

[mysqld_safe]
log-error=/var/log/mysqld.log
pid-file=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid

We’re going to restart all services at the end, so let’s move on.