caching_sha2_password vs mysql_native_password

[dorkyboi]

MySQL 8+ uses caching_sha2_password for storing user passwords, and has not only disabled mysql_native_password by default but also made it deprecated.
In PHP, support for caching_sha2_password has been added since version 7.4.4.

Laravel is still stuck using mysql_native_password, however Laravel 11 requires PHP 8.2+.
It appears that the switch from mysql_native_password to caching_sha2_password is long overdue.
WDYT?

[bulletproof-coding]

Hi. The transition would mean regenerating all passwords(for their hashes) from db?

[dorkyboi]

I could not find any mentions of mysql_native_password or caching_sha2_password by searching Laravel project structure, so I think you are correct.
But this is what weirds me out - I've installed PHP 8.2 (it is the only version installed), I've then added php-mysql - shouldn't they work via caching_sha2_password out-of-the-box?

[bulletproof-coding]

I have docker-php-ext-install mysqli && docker-php-ext-install pdo && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql

And in that link that guy talks about mysqlnd: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/php-mysqlnd/ (https://stackoverflow.com/a/50027581)

[dorkyboi]

Thank you for the links, I'll have a look

[dorkyboi]

It looks like the issue was my own doing.

I have chosen php-mysql as a driver due to the lack of knowledge.
I should've installed php-mysqlnd as it is, apparently, a better alternative to php-mysql, and it is also its drop-in replacement.

So I have removed php-mysql and installed php-mysqlnd, set the authentication plugin back to caching_sha2_password.
Everything works fine so far.

Thank you, @marius-mcp, for helping me to figure this out. ❤️