How to connect to MySQL

Vero can connect to your MySQL database, run queries against it and use the results of those queries to send email messages to your customers. In Vero, database connections are referred to as Data Sources.

Adding your database

To add a MySQL database, click Data Sources and Add Data Source. In the menu that appears, choose MySQL:

Choose database MySQL

To add your database you will need the following credentials:

  • Host. The web or IP address of the database.
  • Port. The port that is accepting connections (e.g. typically 3306 for MySQL).
  • Username.
  • Password.
  • Database name. The name of the database to connect to.

Enter database credentials MySQL

Testing your connection

Once you’ve entered your database credentials, select Connect. Vero will automatically test the connection:

Test database connection MySQL

Securing your connection

Create a read-only user

Vero will only execute SELECT queries against your database: it is read only by design.

That said, we would recommend creating a user login that only has read access to your database.

Vero will show users all available tables when using the SQL editor in our UI. Limiting the tables and columns that Vero has access to is good practice.

IP whitelisting

Vero will connect directly to your database over the public internet. This approach requires your network and database to be configured to allow Vero’s servers to connect to it.

Find the list of active IP addresses Vero uses to connect to your database here. Whitelist these addresses to secure access to your data.

SSL connections

Vero will attempt to connect to your MySQL via an SSL connection but SSL is not enforced. If an SSL connection cannot be made, Vero will attempt to connect without SSL. We recommend ensuring you can connect over SSL.

Currently supported MySQL versions

Vero Connect officially supports MySQL 8+. That said, earlier versions should work. If you attempt to connect your database and run into issues please let us know so we can test further.

Note: we require SSL on all MySQL connections and do validate certificates. If you run into connection issues please email us so we can confirm the certificate configuration needed to support your connection.

FAQs

Query limits

Vero will show your query results in blocks of 100 in the UI. In order to load an audience you will need to load your entire query (without a LIMIT clause).

There is no technical limit to the number of rows you can query using Vero’s UI but we have currently tested up to one million rows consistently.

Query timeout

Vero will currently timeout queries after 12 hours.

Author

  • Chris Hexton
    CEO and Co-Founder