If clients encounter Too many connections errors when attempting to connect to the mysqld server, all available connections are in use by other clients.

The permitted number of connections is controlled by the max_connections system variable. To support more connections, set max_connections to a larger value.

mysqld actually permits max_connections + 1 client connections. The extra connection is reserved for use by accounts that have the CONNECTION_ADMIN privilege (or the deprecated SUPER privilege). By granting the privilege to administrators and not to normal users (who should not need it), an administrator can connect to the server and use SHOW PROCESSLIST to diagnose problems even if the maximum number of unprivileged clients are connected. See Section 13.7.7.29, “SHOW PROCESSLIST Statement”.

The server also permits administrative connections on a dedicated interface. For more information about how the server handles client connections, see Section 5.1.12.1, “Connection Interfaces”.