How to Connect to Docker MySQL Container from Host Command Line

You have a docker container running MySQL and want to connect to it from your MacBook's command line.

Using docker-compose up

Since port 3306 is published on the docker host, you can connect to 127.0.0.1:3306 from the host itself.

Using docker-compose run

When using docker-compose run, the port mapping section of the docker-compose.yml file is ignored by default. To enable it, use the --service-ports option:

docker-compose run --service-ports db

Note on Hostname

By default, the MySQL client attempts to connect using a Unix socket when connecting to localhost. To avoid this, specify the IP address 127.0.0.1:

$ mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root