How do I get phpmyadmin working? [was Re: ubuntu-users Digest, Vol 33, Issue 143]

[Adam McGreggor]

On Wed, May 16, 2007 at 02:58:13PM -0700, John Leonard wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I guess I am somewhat out of my depth here as I can't
> answer any of your questions.

Firstly, a few people will probably say this, but if you do use digest
mode, then *please* make your subject-line/header to be what the message
is. 

Makes it a lot easier for those of us who skim our mail...

> >What do the Apache {access,error}logs show?

Apache keeps a couple of logs, which record accesses (visits) and errors
that it encounters; often these are good places to have a look for info.

The location for these will be set in your Apache/Apache2 config file
/etc/apache/httpd.conf (or /etc/apache2/httpd.conf - a quick way of
finding it is to use grep(1):
   adam at nagini:~$ grep access\.log /etc/apache/httpd.conf
   # The location and format of the access logfile (Common Logfile
   # Format).
   # If you do not define any access logfiles within a <VirtualHost>
   # define per-<VirtualHost> access logfiles, transactions will be
   #CustomLog /var/log/apache/access.log common
   CustomLog /var/log/apache/access.log combined
tells me that my access.log is in /var/log/apache

Try throwing cat(1) at the log-file, perhaps piping it through pager:
   cat /var/log/apache/access.log | pager

Although, in this instance you'd probably find more info in the
error.log file. (so just replace 'access' with 'error').

> >Have you told Apache to include the phpmyadmin
> >directory? (can't
> >remember if that's needed or not)

In order for the Webserver to use phpmyadmin, it needs to know about it,
if it's in /var/www/phpmyadmin, it should be found. If not, you might
find reading /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf useful.

> >Have you configured (prolly through /etc/phpmyadmin/)
> >phpmyadmin
> >properly?

Open /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php (or something like that, i think it
needs to be renamed) in your favorite text-editor, and change the bits
that need it. (prolly do this as root)

> >Have you got the mysql extension set-up in php? (try
> >the bog-standard 
> <?php phpinfo() ?> approach, if you're unsure) ---
> >it's an 
> >uncomment in the modules config (usually php.ini)

Somewhere where your webserver can find it, create a file, with a .php
extension, and make the only contents be:
   <?php phpinfo() ?>
Open said file through a web-browser, by path, and it should give you
info about your php set-up.

You probably don't want to leave that file lying around, it can give
away info about your machine.

php.ini for php5 should be in /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

As root, open that, and check that the line that I expect is:
  ;extension=mysql.so
doesn't have the semi-colon, so it reads
  extension=mysql.so
then restart apache, and php should support mysql.

> I am new to php and Apache, so please reply as if I
> were your Gran!

It can be a bit of an arse to get going, but once you get the hang of
it, it should be alright.

BTW: most of this is covered in the manual/docs, which you'll find in
/usr/share/doc/phpmyinfo/Documentation.html, but we, being the nice
Ubuntu people will tell you that for reference, not as an answer :)