MySQL Error 2002 - Connection Refused (Socket)

What It Means

MySQL error 2002 (CR_CONNECTION_ERROR) means “Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock’.” This error occurs when trying to connect to MySQL via a Unix socket file, but the connection fails. The MySQL server is likely not running, or the socket file path is incorrect.

Common Causes

• MySQL server is not running
• MySQL crashed and the socket file was removed
• Socket file is in a different location than the client expects
• Insufficient permissions to access the socket file
• Using localhost instead of 127.0.0.1 (localhost uses the socket, while 127.0.0.1 uses TCP)
• MySQL was installed but never started
• AppArmor or SELinux blocking socket access

How to Fix

Check if MySQL is running

# Check MySQL service status
sudo systemctl status mysql
sudo systemctl status mysqld   # On CentOS/RHEL

# Check if the process is running
ps aux | grep mysql

# Start MySQL if it's not running
sudo systemctl start mysql

Find the correct socket file

# Find where the socket file is
find / -name "mysql.sock" -o -name "mysqld.sock" 2>/dev/null

# Check MySQL configuration for socket path
grep -r "socket" /etc/mysql/ 2>/dev/null
cat /etc/my.cnf 2>/dev/null | grep socket

Connect using TCP instead of socket

# Use 127.0.0.1 to force TCP connection
mysql -u root -p -h 127.0.0.1

# Or specify the protocol explicitly
mysql -u root -p --protocol=TCP

Fix socket path in configuration

# /etc/mysql/my.cnf or /etc/my.cnf
[client]
socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock

[mysqld]
socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock

Fix socket file permissions

# Check permissions on the socket directory
ls -la /var/run/mysqld/

# Fix permissions
sudo mkdir -p /var/run/mysqld/
sudo chown mysql:mysql /var/run/mysqld/
sudo chmod 755 /var/run/mysqld/

# Restart MySQL
sudo systemctl restart mysql

Create a symlink if paths differ

# If your client expects the socket at a different path
sudo ln -s /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock /tmp/mysql.sock

Fix in application configuration

// Node.js - use TCP connection
const connection = mysql.createConnection({
  host: '127.0.0.1',  // TCP, not socket
  port: 3306,
  user: 'myapp',
  password: 'password',
  database: 'mydb'
});

// Or specify socket path explicitly
const connection = mysql.createConnection({
  socketPath: '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock',
  user: 'myapp',
  password: 'password',
  database: 'mydb'
});

# Python - use TCP
connection = mysql.connector.connect(
    host='127.0.0.1',
    port=3306,
    user='myapp',
    password='password',
    database='mydb'
)

Related Errors

• MySQL 2003 - Can’t connect via TCP: Similar issue but for TCP/IP connections instead of sockets.
• MySQL 1045 - Access denied: Connection succeeded but credentials are wrong.