Ghost on K3S cluster - Error ID 500 Error: connect ETIMEDOUT

Question

I have a K3S cluster installed on a baremetal and I have mysql db up and running. I am trying to launch a ghost application but I get the Error: connect ETIMEDOUT . I could log into the mysql and confirm that the db is up and running.

Currently there are no networkpolicies implemented I tried logging in from a temp pod and tried "telnet mysql-service 3306" . It returned no output. I could ping other nodes from the busybox and it works fine.

The service endpoint matches the msql pod IP. I dont know wheres else I should look for further troubleshooting. ANy guidance is welcome

kubectl logs ghost-7bdfc667b4-vmgmn -n ghost
[2023-10-13 13:34:05] INFO Ghost is running in production...
[2023-10-13 13:34:05] INFO Your site is now available on https://blog.mysite.io/
[2023-10-13 13:34:05] INFO Ctrl+C to shut down
[2023-10-13 13:34:05] INFO Ghost server started in 0.449s
[2023-10-13 13:34:15] ERROR Invalid database host.

Invalid database host.

"Please double check your database config."

Error ID:
    500

Error Code: 
    ETIMEDOUT

----------------------------------------

Error: connect ETIMEDOUT
    at /var/lib/ghost/versions/5.69.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/lib/database.js:50:23
    at Connection._handleTimeoutError (/var/lib/ghost/versions/5.69.0/node_modules/mysql2/lib/connection.js:205:17)
    at listOnTimeout (node:internal/timers:569:17)
    at process.processTimers (node:internal/timers:512:7)

[2023-10-13 13:34:15] WARN Ghost is shutting down
[2023-10-13 13:34:15] WARN Ghost has shut down
[2023-10-13 13:34:15] WARN Your site is now offline
[2023-10-13 13:34:15] WARN Ghost was running for a few seconds

cat ghost-deployment.yaml 
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: ghost
  namespace: ghost
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: ghost
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: ghost
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: ghost
        image: ghost:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 2368
        env:
        - name: database__client
          value: "mysql"
        - name: database__connection__host
          value: "mysql-service"
        - name: database__connection__user
          value: "ghost"
        - name: database__connection__password
          value: "password"
        - name: database__connection__database
          value: "ghost"
        - name: url
          value: "https://blog.mysite.io"
        volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /var/lib/ghost/content
          name: ghost-content
      volumes:
      - name: ghost-content
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: ghost-pvc

kubectl get pods -n ghost -o wide
NAME                     READY   STATUS             RESTARTS         AGE   IP           NODE                 NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
mysql-779ddf6774-dm4c7   1/1     Running            0                82m   10.42.1.67   intelnuc-ubuntu   <none>           <none>
ghost-7bdfc667b4-nz7mk   0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   12 (3m42s ago)   44m   10.42.1.71   intelnuc-ubuntu   <none>           <none>
ghost-7bdfc667b4-qxrsx   0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   12 (101s ago)    44m   10.42.3.25   rpi-wn-mon           <none>           <none>
ghost-7bdfc667b4-vmgmn   0/1     CrashLoopBackOff   13 (31s ago)     44m   10.42.0.71   amd-deb           <none>           <none>

kubectl describe service mysql-service -n ghost
Name:              mysql-service
Namespace:         ghost
Labels:            <none>
Annotations:       <none>
Selector:          app=mysql
Type:              ClusterIP
IP Family Policy:  SingleStack
IP Families:       IPv4
IP:                10.43.199.78
IPs:               10.43.199.78
Port:              <unset>  3306/TCP
TargetPort:        3306/TCP
Endpoints:         10.42.1.67:3306
Session Affinity:  None
Events:            <none>