connecting [logging] RMySQL to an external server - SOLVED

[...]

Err, I am late to this but

 dbConnect(drv, user="mysqluser", password="mysqlpassword",
dbname="anydatabase", host="xxx.xxx.xxx")

works fine for me (eg on Ubuntu with a remote MySQL on some other
box).  What's the problem you were seeing?

The remote host expects a login username and password (different from the 
MySQL username and password), which I cannot provide in the dbConnect 
function.
The solution is to first login to the external machine (a secure login using 
ssh), forwarding the MySQL port 3306 to the local port 3307 (not to interfere 
with the local MySQL server), and connecting R to the remote MySQL server 
using the ssh tunneling binded to local port 3307.

Best,
Adi

Adrian Dusa
Romanian Social Data Archive
1, Schitu Magureanu Bd
050025 Bucharest sector 5
Romania
Tel./Fax: +40 21 3126618 \
          +40 21 3120210 / int.101