C# Too many connections in MySQL

Question

I try to run SELECT on a table in MySql and i get this error:

    Server Error in '/MyApp' Application.
Too many connections
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException: Too many connections

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:


[MySqlException (0x80004005): Too many connections]
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlStream.ReadPacket() +517
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.NativeDriver.Open() +702
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.Driver.Open() +245
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.Driver.Create(MySqlConnectionStringBuilder settings) +297
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlPool.CreateNewPooledConnection() +18
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlPool.GetPooledConnection() +403
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlPool.TryToGetDriver() +228
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlPool.GetConnection() +106
   MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection.Open() +1468


Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.1 

I run it on iis with .net and C#. Any idea how i can fix this problem?

This is for example how i make select:

MySqlDataReader msdr;

    MySqlConnection connect = new MySqlConnection(connectionStringMySql);
    MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand();

    string commandLine = "SELECT * FROM Table WHERE active=1;

    commandLine = commandLine.Remove(commandLine.Length - 3);
    cmd.CommandText = commandLine;

    cmd.Connection = connect;
    cmd.Connection.Open();

    msdr = cmd.ExecuteReader();

    while (msdr.Read())
    {
        //Read data
    }

    msdr.Close();
    cmd.Connection.Close(); 

This is how i Delete:

                MySqlConnection connect = new MySqlConnection(connectionStringMySql);
                MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand();

                cmd.Connection = connect;
                cmd.Connection.Open();

                string commandLine = @"DELETE FROM Table WHERE id=@id;";

                cmd.CommandText = commandLine;

                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@id", slotId);

                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                cmd.Connection.Close();

This is how i insert:

MySqlConnection connect = new MySqlConnection(connectionStringMySql);
                MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand();

                cmd.Connection = connect;
                cmd.Connection.Open();

                string commandLine = @"INSERT INTO Table (id, weekday, start, end) VALUES" +
                    "(@ id, @weekday, @start, @end);";

                cmd.CommandText = commandLine;

                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@ id", id);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@weekday", item.weekday);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@start", new TimeSpan(item.starthour, item.startmin, 0));
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@end", new TimeSpan(item.endhour, item.endmin, 0));

                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                long id = cmd.LastInsertedId;
                cmd.Connection.Close();
                return id;

Answer 1

All the examples above show the same weakness. You don't use the using statement that will ensure the propert closing and disposing of the connection and other disposable objects. If one or more of your statements throw an exception, the code that close the connection is not executed and you could end with the too many connections error

For example

string commandLine = "SELECT * FROM Table WHERE active=1";
commandLine = commandLine.Remove(commandLine.Length - 3);
using(MySqlConnection connect = new MySqlConnection(connectionStringMySql))
using(MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(commandLine, connect))
{
    connect.Open();
    using(MySqlDataReader msdr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
    {
        while (msdr.Read())
        {
            //Read data
        }
    }
} // Here the connection will be closed and disposed.  (and the command also)

Answer 2

Decrease the wait_timeout :

[mysqld]
wait_timeout=900

Because ADO.NET use connection pooling, it will keep your connection alive even if you dispose it. The solution is to tell MySQL to drop the connections.