phpmyadmin

Upgrade phpMyAdmin to the latest version when the apt package lags behind, keeping existing configuration files intact.

Steps

1. Back up the existing installation:

   sudo mv /usr/share/phpmyadmin /usr/share/phpmyadmin.bak

2. Download and extract the latest release:

   wget https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.zip
   unzip phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.zip

3. Move files into place:

   sudo mkdir /usr/share/phpmyadmin
   sudo mv phpMyAdmin-*/* /usr/share/phpmyadmin/

4. Point to existing config directories (required when originally installed via apt):

   sudo nano /usr/share/phpmyadmin/libraries/vendor_config.php

   Update these constants:

   define('TEMP_DIR', '/var/lib/phpmyadmin/tmp/');
   define('CONFIG_DIR', '/etc/phpmyadmin/');

5. Set permissions:

   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/phpmyadmin

Verify

Open phpMyAdmin in a browser - the new version appears in the footer.

Notes

• Prevent apt from downgrading: sudo apt-mark hold phpmyadmin.

Configure phpMyAdmin to connect to multiple remote MySQL servers from a single interface.

Edit config.inc.php

/* Server 1 - Production */
$i++;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']    = 'cookie';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['verbose']      = 'Production Server';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host']         = '10.0.0.1';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type'] = 'tcp';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress']     = false;

/* Server 2 - Staging */
$i++;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']    = 'cookie';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['verbose']      = 'Staging Server';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host']         = '10.0.0.2';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type'] = 'tcp';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress']     = false;

Grant Remote Access on MySQL

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'admin'@'phpMyAdmin-IP'
    IDENTIFIED BY 'password' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Verify

Open phpMyAdmin - a server dropdown appears at login.

Notes

• Ensure port 3306 is open between phpMyAdmin server and remote MySQL hosts.
• Restrict MySQL remote access to specific IPs rather than %.

Install phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu 20.04 with Nginx and apply security hardening.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04 with Nginx and PHP-FPM
• MySQL or MariaDB running
• Sudo access

Step 1 - Install phpMyAdmin

sudo apt update
sudo apt install phpmyadmin php-mbstring php-zip php-gd php-json php-curl
sudo phpenmod mbstring
sudo systemctl restart php8.1-fpm

Step 2 - Create a Dedicated MySQL User

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE USER 'phpmyadmin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPass!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'phpmyadmin'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 3 - Configure Nginx

sudo ln -s /usr/share/phpmyadmin /var/www/html/phpmyadmin

Add to your Nginx server block:

location /phpmyadmin {
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.php;
    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 4 - Harden Access

• Rename the URL: rename the symlink to something non-obvious (e.g. dbmgr2025).
• Add HTTP Basic Auth:

  sudo apt install apache2-utils
  sudo htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd adminuser

  Add to the Nginx location block:

  auth_basic "Restricted";
  auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;

• Restrict by IP:

  allow 203.0.113.5;
  deny all;