Ask the server to report the number of connections it's received and its uptime
mysql>
mysql> SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Connections';
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| Connections | 145 |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Uptime';
+---------------+--------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+--------+
| Uptime | 867895 |
+---------------+--------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)