can&rsquo;t connect after installing Istio. This is because MySQL is a <a href=/v1.16/docs/ops/deployment/requirements/#server-first-protocols>server first</a> protocol,
which can interfere with Istio&rsquo;s protocol detection. In particular, using <code>PERMISSIVE</code> mTLS mode, may cause issues.
You may see error messages such as <code>ERROR 2013 (HY000): Lost connection to MySQL server at 'reading initial communication packet', system error: 0</code>.</p><p>This can be fixed by ensuring <code>STRICT<