phpMyAdmin tutorial: install and configure

This tutorial walks through installing phpMyAdmin on three platforms: XAMPP on Windows, Docker containers, and Ubuntu/Debian Linux. By the end, you will have a running phpMyAdmin instance connected to a MySQL or MariaDB server with basic security settings applied.

What You Will Need

• A computer running Windows 10/11, macOS, or Ubuntu/Debian Linux.
• Administrative or sudo access on the target system.
• A web browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Safari).
• For Docker installation: Docker Engine 20.10+ installed ( Docker installation guide).
• For Linux installation: A server or virtual machine with SSH access.

Step 1: Choose an Installation Method for phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin requires three components to run: a web server (Apache HTTP Server or Nginx), PHP with the mysqli extension, and a MySQL or MariaDB database server. Each installation method bundles or manages these dependencies differently.

XAMPPpackages Apache, MySQL, PHP, and phpMyAdmin into a single installer. XAMPP suits local development on Windows and macOS because it requires no manual configuration of individual components.

Dockerruns phpMyAdmin and MySQL as isolated containers with their own networking. Docker suits environments where installing PHP and Apache on the host machine is undesirable or where multiple isolated database environments are needed.

Package manager installationon Ubuntu/Debian installs phpMyAdmin from the official repositories. This method suits production Linux servers where Apache and MySQL already run as system services.

Step 2: Install phpMyAdmin with XAMPP on Windows

XAMPP provides an integrated development stack that includes phpMyAdmin pre-configured with Apache HTTP Server and MySQL.

Download and Run the XAMPP Installer

Visit the Apache Friends download page. Download the latest XAMPP version for Windows (64-bit recommended). The download includes Apache, MySQL, PHP, and phpMyAdmin.

XAMPP download page offering versions for different operating systems

Run the downloaded installer (for example, xampp-windows-x64-8.2.12-installer.exe). Click Nexton the welcome screen.

XAMPP installation wizard welcome screen

Select Components and Installation Directory

Select the components to install. Ensure MySQLand phpMyAdminare checked. Apache and PHP are required dependencies and should remain selected.

Component selection during XAMPP installation

Choose the installation directory. The default C:\xampp works for most setups.

Selecting installation directory for XAMPP

Select the language and click Nextto begin installation.

Language selection screen

Ready to install confirmation screen

Start Apache and MySQL Services

Open the XAMPP Control Panel after installation completes. Click Startnext to Apache and Startnext to MySQL. Both services should show green "Running" status.

XAMPP Control Panel showing available services

XAMPP Control Panel with Apache and MySQL services running

Open phpMyAdmin in the Browser

Navigate to http://localhost/phpmyadmin in a web browser. XAMPP configures phpMyAdmin with the MySQL root account and no password by default. The phpMyAdmin dashboard loads without a login prompt because the default authentication type is config.

Secure the XAMPP phpMyAdmin Installation

phpMyAdmin on XAMPP ships with no root password and config-based authentication, which means anyone with network access to the machine can access the database. Set a root password immediately after installation.

Open the XAMPP Shell from the Control Panel and run:

mysql -u root

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Edit C:\xampp\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php and switch from config to cookie authentication so phpMyAdmin prompts for credentials on each login:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = '';

Restart Apache from the XAMPP Control Panel. phpMyAdmin now requires a username and password to log in.

Step 3: Install phpMyAdmin with Docker

Docker runs phpMyAdmin as a container that connects to a MySQL server on the same Docker network. This method avoids installing PHP or Apache on the host machine.

Pull and Run the phpMyAdmin Docker Container

Pull the official phpMyAdmin image from Docker Hub:

docker pull phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:latest

Run the container with the arbitrary server option enabled. This allows connecting to any MySQL server by entering the host address on the login screen:

docker run --name myphpmyadmin -d \
  -e PMA_ARBITRARY=1 \
  -p 8080:80 \
  phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin

Open http://localhost:8080 in a browser. Enter the MySQL server address (use host.docker.internal for a MySQL server running on the host machine), username, and password.

Run phpMyAdmin and MySQL Together with Docker Compose

Docker Compose creates both MySQL and phpMyAdmin containers with automatic networking. Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'

services:
  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    container_name: mysql_database
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: myapp_db
      MYSQL_USER: myapp_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: myapp_pass
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    volumes:
      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - backend

  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin:latest
    container_name: phpmyadmin_interface
    restart: always
    environment:
      PMA_HOST: db
      PMA_PORT: 3306
      PMA_USER: root
      PMA_PASSWORD: rootpassword
      UPLOAD_LIMIT: 128M
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    depends_on:
      - db
    networks:
      - backend
    volumes:
      - /sessions

volumes:
  mysql_data:

networks:
  backend:

phpMyAdmin's PMA_HOST: db directive points to the MySQL container by its Docker Compose service name. Docker resolves this name to the MySQL container's internal IP address automatically.

Start both containers:

docker-compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8080 in a browser. phpMyAdmin connects to the MySQL container using the credentials defined in the environment variables.

Manage phpMyAdmin Docker Containers

# List running containers
docker ps

# Stop the phpMyAdmin container
docker stop myphpmyadmin

# Start the phpMyAdmin container
docker start myphpmyadmin

# View container logs
docker logs myphpmyadmin

# Stop the Docker Compose stack
docker-compose down

# Stop and remove all volumes (deletes database data)
docker-compose down -v

Step 4: Install phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu/Debian Linux

phpMyAdmin installs from the official Ubuntu/Debian repositories. This method requires Apache HTTP Server and MySQL/MariaDB to be installed first.

Install Apache, MySQL, and PHP Prerequisites

Update the package index and install the required components:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install Apache HTTP Server:

sudo apt install apache2

Install MySQL Server:

sudo apt install mysql-server

Install PHP and the extensions phpMyAdmin requires:

sudo apt install php php-mysqli php-mbstring php-zip php-gd php-json php-curl

Secure the MySQL Installation

Run the MySQL security script to set a root password, remove anonymous users, disable remote root login, and drop the test database:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts. Answer Yesto each security question for a production-ready configuration.

Install phpMyAdmin from the Package Manager

sudo apt install phpmyadmin

The installer prompts for three choices:

1. Web server selection:Choose apache2.
2. Database configuration:Choose Yesto configure the phpMyAdmin database with dbconfig-common.
3. Application password:Enter a password for the phpMyAdmin MySQL user.

Enable the PHP mbstring extension that phpMyAdmin requires for multi-byte string handling:

sudo phpenmod mbstring
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Open phpMyAdmin on the Linux Server

Navigate to http://{YOUR_SERVER_IP}/phpmyadmin or http://localhost/phpmyadmin in a browser. Log in with the MySQL root credentials set during mysql_secure_installation.

Secure the Linux phpMyAdmin Installation

Apply the security hardening steps from phpMyAdmin best practices:

• Change the default /phpmyadmin URL alias to a custom path.
• Restrict access by IP address in the Apache configuration.
• Add HTTP Basic Authentication as a second login layer.
• Enable HTTPS with a TLS certificate.

What You Learned

This tutorial covered three methods for installing phpMyAdmin. XAMPP provides a bundled installation for Windows and macOS development. Docker runs phpMyAdmin as an isolated container with configurable MySQL connectivity through environment variables. Ubuntu/Debian package installation integrates phpMyAdmin with the system's Apache and MySQL services.

Each method produces a working phpMyAdmin instance that connects to a MySQL or MariaDB server through the config.inc.php configuration file. Cookie-based authentication provides the most secure login method for any installation type.

What to Do Next

Create databases and tables through the phpMyAdmin interface. See the phpMyAdmin database management tutorialfor step-by-step instructions.

Harden the installation against unauthorized access. See phpMyAdmin best practicesfor security recommendations.