"Connection Failed" — How to Fix It
If DBEverywhere shows a "Connection failed" error when you try to connect, the issue is almost always one of these five things. Work through them in order — the most common causes are listed first.
1. IP Address Not Whitelisted
This is the most frequent cause. Your database firewall is blocking the connection because DBEverywhere's IP address isn't on the allow list.
Fix: Add DBEverywhere's static IP to your database's trusted sources or security group. See How to Whitelist DBEverywhere's IP Address for step-by-step instructions for DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner, and self-hosted databases.
2. Wrong Credentials
Double-check every field on the connection form:
- Host — use the full hostname, not an IP that may have changed. For managed databases, copy the hostname directly from your provider's dashboard.
- Port — MySQL default is
3306, PostgreSQL default is5432. Some providers use non-standard ports. - Username — this is the database user, not your email or OS login.
- Password — copy-paste to avoid typos. Watch for leading or trailing spaces.
- Database name — must be an existing database the user has access to. Leave blank to connect without selecting a specific database (MySQL only).
3. Database Not Accepting Remote Connections
Some databases are configured to only accept connections from localhost. This is common on self-hosted servers.
Fix for MySQL: Edit my.cnf (or mysqld.cnf) and change bind-address from 127.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.0, then restart MySQL.
Fix for PostgreSQL: Set listen_addresses = '*' in postgresql.conf and add an appropriate entry in pg_hba.conf, then reload PostgreSQL.
4. SSL Required but Not Configured
Some managed databases require SSL connections and reject non-SSL attempts. DBEverywhere connects with SSL enabled for MySQL/MariaDB by default. If your database requires a specific CA certificate or has unusual SSL requirements, the connection may still fail.
Fix: Check your provider's documentation for any SSL connection requirements beyond standard TLS.
5. Port Blocked by Network
Your database server's network (firewall, VPC, security group) may be blocking the port entirely, even if the IP is whitelisted.
Fix: Verify that the database port (3306, 5432, etc.) is open for inbound traffic from external IPs in your cloud provider's firewall settings. This is separate from the database's own trusted sources — you need both the network firewall and the database firewall to allow the connection.
Still Not Working?
If you've verified all five points above and still can't connect:
- Try connecting to your database from another external tool (like a local MySQL client from a different machine) to confirm the database is reachable from the internet at all.
- Check your database server's error logs for more specific rejection messages.
- Make sure the database service is running and hasn't crashed or been stopped.