Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock’ is a common error which can occur due to various reasons like MySQL server is not running, the location of the sock file is incorrect in the MySQL configuration file or MySQL is not correctly installed.
You can resolve this issue by following these steps:
1. Check if MySQL server is running:
You can check if the MySQL server is running by typing the following command in your terminal:
```
systemctl status mysql
```
If the server is not running, you can start it by running:
```
systemctl start mysql
```
1. Check the sock file:
Another reason you may see this error is that the mysqld.sock file is not in the location where MySQL is trying to find it. If MySQL was updated, the location of the .sock file may have moved.
To check the location, view the ‘my.cnf’ file (generally, you can find it in /etc/mysql/). You have to look for either ‘socket’ or ‘mysqld.sock’. The path right after is the path that MySQL is using to look for the sock file.
1. Reinstall MySQL:
If MySQL is not properly installed or your MySQL installation is corrupted, then also you may face this error. You can uninstall MySQL using the following command:
```
sudo apt-get remove —purge mysql-server mysql-client mysql-common
```
After uninstalling, install it again by running:
```
sudo apt-get install mysql-server
```
Remember to backup your data before reinstalling MySQL.
Note: Depending on your environment, you may need to use different commands or have different files. The above instructions are for Ubuntu or similar systems. If you’re using a different system, you might need to look up instructions specific to your environment.
