Quick Install

  1. Choose an appropriate distribution kit from the phpmyadmin.net Downloads page. Some kits contain only the English messages, others contain all languages. We'll assume you chose a kit whose name looks like phpMyAdmin-x.x.x -all-languages.tar.gz.
  2. Ensure you have downloaded a genuine archive, see Verifying phpMyAdmin releases.
  3. Untar or unzip the distribution (be sure to unzip the subdirectories): tar -xzvf phpMyAdmin_x.x.x-all-languages.tar.gz in your webserver's document root. If you don't have direct access to your document root, put the files in a directory on your local machine, and, after step 4, transfer the directory on your web server using, for example, FTP.
  4. Ensure that all the scripts have the appropriate owner (if PHP is running in safe mode, having some scripts with an owner different from the owner of other scripts will be a problem). See 4.2 What's the preferred way of making phpMyAdmin secure against evil access? and 1.26 I just installed phpMyAdmin in my document root of IIS but I get the error "No input file specified" when trying to run phpMyAdmin. for suggestions.
  5. Now you must configure your installation. There are two methods that can be used. Traditionally, users have hand-edited a copy of config.inc.php, but now a wizard-style setup script is provided for those who prefer a graphical installation. Creating a config.inc.php is still a quick way to get started and needed for some advanced features.

Manually creating the file

To manually create the file, simply use your text editor to create the file config.inc.php (you can copy config.sample.inc.php to get a minimal configuration file) in the main (top-level) phpMyAdmin directory (the one that contains index.php). phpMyAdmin first loads libraries/config.default.php and then overrides those values with anything found in config.inc.php. If the default value is okay for a particular setting, there is no need to include it in config.inc.php. You'll probably need only a few directives to get going; a simple configuration may look like this: 

<?php // use here a value of your choice at least 32 chars long $cfg['blowfish_secret'] = '1{dd0`<Q),5XP_:R9UK%%8\"EEcyH#{o';  $i=0; $i++; $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']     = 'cookie'; // if you insist on "root" having no password: // $cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword'] = true;

Or, if you prefer to not be prompted every time you log in: 

<?php  $i=0; $i++; $cfg['Servers'][$i]['user']          = 'root'; $cfg['Servers'][$i]['password']      = 'cbb74bc'; // use here your password $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']     = 'config';

Warning

Storing passwords in the configuration is insecure as anybody can then manipulate your database.

For a full explanation of possible configuration values, see the Configuration of this document.

Using the Setup script

Instead of manually editing config.inc.php, you can use phpMyAdmin's setup feature. The file can be generated using the setup and you can download it for upload to the server.

Next, open your browser and visit the location where you installed phpMyAdmin, with the /setup suffix. The changes are not saved to the server, you need to use the Download button to save them to your computer and then upload to the server.

Now the file is ready to be used. You can choose to review or edit the file with your favorite editor, if you prefer to set some advanced options that the setup script does not provide.

  1. If you are using the auth_type "config", it is suggested that you protect the phpMyAdmin installation directory because using config does not require a user to enter a password to access the phpMyAdmin installation. Use of an alternate authentication method is recommended, for example with HTTP-AUTH in a .htaccess file or switch to using auth_type cookie or http. See the ISPs, multi-user installations for additional information, especially 4.4 phpMyAdmin always gives "Access denied" when using HTTP authentication..
  2. Open the main phpMyAdmin directory in your browser. phpMyAdmin should now display a welcome screen and your databases, or a login dialog if using HTTP or cookie authentication mode.
Setup script on Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives

Debian and Ubuntu have changed the way in which the setup script is enabled and disabled, in a way that single command has to be executed for either of these.

To allow editing configuration invoke: 

/usr/sbin/pma-configure

To block editing configuration invoke: 

/usr/sbin/pma-secure
Setup script on openSUSE

Some openSUSE releases do not include setup script in the package. In case you want to generate configuration on these you can either download original package from <https://www.phpmyadmin.net/> or use setup script on our demo server: <https://demo.phpmyadmin.net/master/setup/>.