VM MySQL Problem

[thunderclap]

I was running a digital asset manager on an Ubuntu 20.04 workstation for several years. I've now set up Unraid for video/photo storage and wanted to run the software in an Ubuntu VM. I exported the MySQL database and moved the files to the VM (still 20.04), installed Apache, PHP and MySQL. Everything went fine, imported the SQL file (again fine) but when I try to run the DAM I keep getting "Sorry, an error has occurred." At first I thought it might be a permission thing but I've set everything properly in the var/www/html folder (I even tested using 777). I then did a clean install and during the initial set up it asks for the MySQL host. I left it set at its default, localhost, and when I try to complete the install the program says an error has ocurred, however it doesn't say what that error is, and there is nothing in the logs so far as I can tell. I then tried running MySQL (and MariaDB) in docker and pointed the installation to use them but it didn't work either.

 

This is the first time I've attempted a VM so I'm curious if I might have something configured wrong. Is there something other than localhost I should be using?