Can't connect to MySQL client outside of localhost - mysql

Question

For some reason I am unable to connect to my mysql database outside of the server. The PHP applications running on the server are able to connect through localhost, but not my mysql client on my home computer. Below is my config. can you tell me what i'm doing wrong?
#
# The MySQL database server configuration file.
#
# You can copy this to one of:
# - "/etc/mysql/my.cnf" to set global options,
# - "~/.my.cnf" to set user-specific options.
#
# One can use all long options that the program supports.
# Run program with --help to get a list of available options and with
# --print-defaults to see which it would actually understand and use.
#
# For explanations see
# http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/server-system-variables.html
# This will be passed to all mysql clients
# It has been reported that passwords should be enclosed with ticks/quotes
# escpecially if they contain "#" chars...
# Remember to edit /etc/mysql/debian.cnf when changing the socket location.
[client]
port = 3306
socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
# Here is entries for some specific programs
# The following values assume you have at least 32M ram
# This was formally known as [safe_mysqld]. Both versions are currently parsed.
[mysqld_safe]
socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
nice = 0
[mysqld]
#
# * Basic Settings
#
user = mysql
pid-file = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
port = 3306
basedir = /usr
datadir = /var/lib/mysql
tmpdir = /tmp
lc-messages-dir = /usr/share/mysql
skip-external-locking
#
# Instead of skip-networking the default is now to listen only on
# localhost which is more compatible and is not less secure.
bind-address = 0.0.0.0
#
# * Fine Tuning
#
key_buffer = 16M
max_allowed_packet = 16M
thread_stack = 192K
thread_cache_size = 8
# This replaces the startup script and checks MyISAM tables if needed
# the first time they are touched
myisam-recover = BACKUP
#max_connections = 100
#table_cache = 64
#thread_concurrency = 10
#
# * Query Cache Configuration
#
query_cache_limit = 1M
query_cache_size = 16M
#
# * Logging and Replication
#
# Both location gets rotated by the cronjob.
# Be aware that this log type is a performance killer.
# As of 5.1 you can enable the log at runtime!
#general_log_file = /var/log/mysql/mysql.log
#general_log = 1
#
# Error logging goes to syslog due to /etc/mysql/conf.d/mysqld_safe_syslog.cnf.
#
# Here you can see queries with especially long duration
#log_slow_queries = /var/log/mysql/mysql-slow.log
#long_query_time = 2
#log-queries-not-using-indexes
#
# The following can be used as easy to replay backup logs or for replication.
# note: if you are setting up a replication slave, see README.Debian about
# other settings you may need to change.
#server-id = 1
#log_bin = /var/log/mysql/mysql-bin.log
expire_logs_days = 10
max_binlog_size = 100M
#binlog_do_db = include_database_name
#binlog_ignore_db = include_database_name
#
# * InnoDB
#
# InnoDB is enabled by default with a 10MB datafile in /var/lib/mysql/.
# Read the manual for more InnoDB related options. There are many!
#
# * Security Features
#
# Read the manual, too, if you want chroot!
# chroot = /var/lib/mysql/
#
# For generating SSL certificates I recommend the OpenSSL GUI "tinyca".
#
# ssl-ca=/etc/mysql/cacert.pem
# ssl-cert=/etc/mysql/server-cert.pem
# ssl-key=/etc/mysql/server-key.pem
[mysqldump]
quick
quote-names
max_allowed_packet = 16M
[mysql]
#no-auto-rehash # faster start of mysql but no tab completition
[isamchk]
key_buffer = 16M
#
# * IMPORTANT: Additional settings that can override those from this file!
# The files must end with '.cnf', otherwise they'll be ignored.
#
!includedir /etc/mysql/conf.d/

Answer 1

There are two main things to check:
Is there a firewall inbetween blocking the connection? From your client you can try telnet myServerName 3306 to see if you can connect. See http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/can-not-connect-to-server.html
Is the user you are trying to connect with allowed to connect from your host? For more on this refer to the MySQL docs at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/create-user.html and http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/account-names.html, specifically Syntax for account names is 'user_name'#'host_name'. If you want to be able to connect with a given account from any computer, the account name would follow a syntax like 'user_name'#'%', where % is a wildcard matching any host name.