MAMP: ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

MAMP-fix-workbench

I instaled MAMP and it worked great. However, when I tried to access mysql from the shell I was getting

$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

However, using a full path to MAMP binary worked.
$ /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysql -u root -p

MAMP’s mysql works with another socket file which is located at /Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock

All you have to do is:
sudo ln -s /Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock /tmp/mysql.sock

UPDATE: As it turns out the above soft link gets erased by the system, so you need to run the command every once in a while. At one point it got too frustrating so I figured out a permanent way to take care of this problem. Open /etc/my.cnf and add/edit these lines:
[mysqld]
socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock

[client]
socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock

Instead of telling MAMP which socket file to use, you are instructing the mysql client to use MAMP’s default socket.

Let me know if this works for you.