This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
Paste the file. The auditor can flag skip-grant-tables, a bind-address of 0.0.0.0, local_infile turned on, and mysql_native_password. If none of those appear, it says there is no starter risk in the paste. That is a keyword check, not a full review. It does not read the server.
Do not edit the file during the reading. Do not turn grant tables off. Replace a bind to every address before you save any copy.
192.0.2.10, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the database named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the database, then decide.
Rollback is the backup, the file, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Paste a file you may hold.
- Read the notes.
- Treat an empty note as this short list only.
- Do not edit the file.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the statement
my.cnf Audit Checklist goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- skip-grant-tables left in place.
- The file edited during the reading.
- The empty note treated as a certification.
- A bind to every address kept.
Decisions to write down
One decision for my.cnf Audit Checklist: The notes were read. Nothing was edited. A wide bind is marked or absent. And the host is yours.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: The file was read. The notes are written. It is a keyword check. Nothing was edited. And the host is yours. If one of those fails, stop.
# skip-grant-tables, bind-address 0.0.0.0, local_infile, mysql_native_password.
# No starter risk is a pass of this short list only.
# Do not edit the file during the reading.Before you leave the database
my.cnf Audit Checklist ends when the database in the prompt is the database in the ticket. If it is not, you are on the wrong database. Stop.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the database. You delete a line that names a host, a database, or an account you did not write down.
192.0.2.10, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a database because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. A sample password in a draft is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the database name and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done.
This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a database you do not administer. You do not disable authentication, a firewall, or TLS to make a check pass.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.
- Pillar: Database Configuration & Security Audit Guide
- Checklist: postgresql.conf Audit Checklist
- Checklist: pg_hba.conf Audit Checklist
- Checklist: SQL Server Configuration Audit Checklist
Companion: Security: Server Hardening Guide.