PDOException (1044) SQLSTATE[HY000] [1044] Access denied for user ''@'localhost' to database 'forge'

Question

I am using Laravel 5 and getting the following exception:

PDOException (1044) SQLSTATE[HY000] [1044] Access denied for user ''@'localhost' to database 'forge'

My database configuration file is:

<?php

return [
/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PDO Fetch Style
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| By default, database results will be returned as instances of the PHP
| stdClass object; however, you may desire to retrieve records in an
| array format for simplicity. Here you can tweak the fetch style.
|
*/

'fetch' => PDO::FETCH_CLASS,

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Default Database Connection Name
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Here you may specify which of the database connections below you wish
| to use as your default connection for all database work. Of course
| you may use many connections at once using the Database library.
|
*/

'default' => 'mysql',

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Database Connections
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Here are each of the database connections setup for your application.
| Of course, examples of configuring each database platform that is
| supported by Laravel is shown below to make development simple.
|
|
| All database work in Laravel is done through the PHP PDO facilities
| so make sure you have the driver for your particular database of
| choice installed on your machine before you begin development.
|
*/

'connections' => [

    'sqlite' => [
        'driver'   => 'sqlite',
        'database' => storage_path().'/database.sqlite',
        'prefix'   => '',
    ],

    'mysql' => [
        'driver'    => 'mysql',
        'host'      => env('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
        'database'  => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
        'username'  => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
        'password'  => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
        'charset'   => 'utf8',
        'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
        'prefix'    => '',
        'strict'    => false,
    ],

    'pgsql' => [
        'driver'   => 'pgsql',
        'host'     => env('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
        'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
        'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
        'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
        'charset'  => 'utf8',
        'prefix'   => '',
        'schema'   => 'public',
    ],

    'sqlsrv' => [
        'driver'   => 'sqlsrv',
        'host'     => env('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
        'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
        'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
        'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
        'prefix'   => '',
    ],

],

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Migration Repository Table
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| This table keeps track of all the migrations that have already run for
| your application. Using this information, we can determine which of
| the migrations on disk haven't actually been run in the database.
|
*/

'migrations' => 'migrations',

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Redis Databases
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Redis is an open source, fast, and advanced key-value store that also
| provides a richer set of commands than a typical key-value systems
| such as APC or Memcached. Laravel makes it easy to dig right in.
|
*/

'redis' => [

    'cluster' => false,

    'default' => [
        'host'     => '127.0.0.1',
        'port'     => 6379,
        'database' => 0,
    ],

    ],

];

How can I solve it?

Answer 1

Put a .env file in your root directory and paste this code there.

APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_KEY=1CaND3OKKvOGSBAlCg6IyrRmTQWwZjOO

DB_HOST = localhost
DB_DATABASE = YOUR_DATABASE_NAME
DB_USERNAME = USER_NAME
DB_PASSWORD = PASSWORD

CACHE_DRIVER=file
SESSION_DRIVER=file
QUEUE_DRIVER=sync

MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null

Update your database, username and password field here and it should solve your problem. In your configuration file env() function is looking for this file and variables from here.

UPDATE: You must create a blank database before running the app or migration.

Answer 2

We forgot to set DB_USERNAME= in the .env file, so we got this error:

SQLSTATE[HY000] [1044] Access denied for user ''@'localhost' to database 'forge'

Open the .env file and edit it. Just set up correct DB credentials:

DB_USERNAME=         //Your Database Username           

DB_USERNAME should be set to root if you do not have a default username in the installation time

After changes of .env enter this command in your terminal for clear cache:php artisan config:cache

---

NOTE: If there is still error

If you are using the PHP's default web server (eg. php artisan serve) you need to restart your server

OR

If you have used XAMPP then restart your Apache server