How can I troubleshoot this 'Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket' error?

Troubleshooting involves several steps. First, verify the MySQL server is running. Second, check the existence and permissions of the socket file '/tmp/mysql.sock'. Ensure the user running the client application has read and write permissions on this socket. Third, confirm the MySQL server's configuration (my.cnf or my.ini) correctly specifies the socket file path. Fourth, restart the MySQL server and client. Finally, if the socket is missing, consider creating it (though this is typically handled automatically by the MySQL server).