In this article I will explain a simple tutorial with an example, how to use MySQL database with MySQL Connector in ASP.Net MVC.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Hello World Tutorial with Sample Program example.
 
 

Download and Install the MySQL Connector

You will need to download and install the MySQL Connector in order to connect to the MySQL database in ASP.Net.
For details on how to download and install the MySQL Connector, please refer:

DLL Download

Download, install and reference MySQL Connector in ASP.Net MVC

Nuget

Install MySql.Data Nuget Package
 
 

Database

I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follows.
Using MySql Database with MySql Connector in ASP.Net MVC
 
I have already inserted few records in the table.
Using MySql Database with MySql Connector in ASP.Net MVC
 
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
           Download SQL file
 
 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using MySql.Data.MySqlClient;
 
 

Model

The Model class consists of following properties.
public class CustomerModel
{
    public int CustomerId { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Country { get; set; }
}
 
 

Controller

The Controller consists of following Action method.

Action method for handling GET operation

Inside this Action method, a Generic List collection of CustomerModel class object is created.
Then, the records are fetched from the Customers table of the MySQL database using DataReader (MySqlDataReader) and set to the Generic List collection of CustomerModel class.
Finally, the Generic List collection of CustomerModel class is returned to the view.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        List<CustomerModel> customers = new List<CustomerModel>();
        string sql = "SELECT CustomerId, Name, Country FROM Customers";
        string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
        using (MySqlConnection con = new MySqlConnection(constr))
        {
            using (MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(sql, con))
            {
                con.Open();
                using (MySqlDataReader sdr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
                {
                    while (sdr.Read())
                    {
                        customers.Add(new CustomerModel
                        {
                            CustomerId = Convert.ToInt32(sdr["CustomerId"]),
                            Name = sdr["Name"].ToString(),
                            Country = sdr["Country"].ToString()
                        });
                    }
                }
                con.Close();
            }
        }
        return View(customers);
    }
}
 
 

View

HTML Markup

Inside the View, the CustomerModel is declared as IEnumerable which specifies that it will be available as a Collection.
For displaying the records, an HTML Table is used. A FOREACH loop will be executed over the Model which will generate the HTML Table rows with the Customer records.
@using MySql_MVC.Models
@model IEnumerable<CustomerModel>
 
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
        <tr>
            <th>Customer Id</th>
            <th>Contact Name</th>
            <th>Country</th>
        </tr>
        @foreach (CustomerModel customer in Model)
        {
            <tr>
                <td>@customer.CustomerId</td>
                <td>@customer.Name</td>
                <td>@customer.Country</td>
            </tr>
        }
    </table>
</body>
</html>
 
 

Screenshot

Using MySql Database with MySql Connector in ASP.Net MVC
 
 

Downloads

Download Code