Unable to establish MySQL connection using SQL Server Migration Assistant

Data and Databases
1

I’m running SQL Server 2017 Developer edition and trying to use SQL Server Migration Assistant for MySQL to move my MySQL database over to SQL Server. The problem is that the migration tool won’t connect to my MySQL instance even though I can connect fine using other methods.

When I use MySQL Workbench, the connection works perfectly with my server details. I can access the database without any issues. However, when I enter the exact same connection information into the SQL Server Migration Assistant (same hostname, port number, and username), it fails completely.

The error I keep getting is: “Connection to MySQL failed. ERROR [HY000] [MySQL][ODBC 5.2(w) Driver]Unknown MySQL server host ‘Mysql@127.0.0.1’ (0)”

I’ve already tried switching between different ODBC drivers including both ANSI and Unicode versions. I tested with driver versions 5.2 and 5.3 but neither one resolves the connection issue. Has anyone encountered this problem before or know what might be causing the migration assistant to fail when other MySQL clients work fine?

2

Check if MySQL is actually running when you use the migration tool. Workbench can sometimes wake up sleeping connections, but SSMA can’t. Also, make sure your firewall isn’t blocking the port for SSMA specifically.

3

Had this exact problem during a migration last year. That error means the migration assistant can’t parse your connection string - ‘Mysql@127.0.0.1’ looks wrong. You probably put the username in the hostname field instead of keeping them separate. The migration assistant is picky about this stuff, unlike other MySQL clients that don’t care about combined strings. Also check your MySQL permissions. The migration assistant needs way more access than regular client connections - I’d create a dedicated user with full admin privileges on the source database just for this.

4

that’s odd! maybe try using just the ip like 127.0.0.1 instead of the hostname? sometimes these migration tools get picky with address formats. let me know what happens when you give that a shot!