Configuration¶

All configurable data is placed in config.inc.php in phpMyAdmin’s toplevel directory. If this file does not exist, please refer to the Installation section to create one. This file only needs to contain the parameters you want to change from their corresponding default value in libraries/config.default.php (this file is not inteded for changes).

See also

Examples for examples of configurations

If a directive is missing from your file, you can just add another line with the file. This file is for over-writing the defaults; if you wish to use the default value there’s no need to add a line here.

The parameters which relate to design (like colors) are placed in themes/themename/layout.inc.php. You might also want to create config.footer.inc.php and config.header.inc.php files to add your site specific code to be included on start and end of each page.

Note

Some distributions (eg. Debian or Ubuntu) store config.inc.php in /etc/phpmyadmin instead of within phpMyAdmin sources.

Warning

Mac users should note that if you are on a version before Mac OS X, PHP does not seem to like Mac end of lines character (\r). So ensure you choose the option that allows to use the *nix end of line character (\n) in your text editor before saving a script you have modified.

Basic settings¶

$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Changed in version 4.6.5: This setting was not available in phpMyAdmin 4.6.0 - 4.6.4.

Sets here the complete URL (with full path) to your phpMyAdmin installation’s directory. E.g. https://www.example.net/path_to_your_phpMyAdmin_directory/. Note also that the URL on most of web servers are case sensitive (even on Windows). Don’t forget the trailing slash at the end.

Starting with version 2.3.0, it is advisable to try leaving this blank. In most cases phpMyAdmin automatically detects the proper setting. Users of port forwarding or complex reverse proxy setup might need to set this.

A good test is to browse a table, edit a row and save it. There should be an error message if phpMyAdmin is having trouble auto–detecting the correct value. If you get an error that this must be set or if the autodetect code fails to detect your path, please post a bug report on our bug tracker so we can improve the code.

$cfg['PmaNoRelation_DisableWarning']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Starting with version 2.3.0 phpMyAdmin offers a lot of features to work with master / foreign – tables (see $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb']).

If you tried to set this up and it does not work for you, have a look on the Structure page of one database where you would like to use it. You will find a link that will analyze why those features have been disabled.

If you do not want to use those features set this variable to true to stop this message from appearing.

$cfg['SuhosinDisableWarning']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

A warning is displayed on the main page if Suhosin is detected.

You can set this parameter to true to stop this message from appearing.

$cfg['LoginCookieValidityDisableWarning']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

A warning is displayed on the main page if the PHP parameter session.gc_maxlifetime is lower than cookie validity configured in phpMyAdmin.

You can set this parameter to true to stop this message from appearing.

$cfg['ServerLibraryDifference_DisableWarning']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Deprecated since version 4.7.0: This setting was removed as the warning has been removed as well.

A warning is displayed on the main page if there is a difference between the MySQL library and server version.

You can set this parameter to true to stop this message from appearing.

$cfg['ReservedWordDisableWarning']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

This warning is displayed on the Structure page of a table if one or more column names match with words which are MySQL reserved.

If you want to turn off this warning, you can set it to true and warning will no longer be displayed.

$cfg['TranslationWarningThreshold']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	80

Show warning about incomplete translations on certain threshold.

$cfg['SendErrorReports']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'ask'`

Sets the default behavior for JavaScript error reporting.

Whenever an error is detected in the JavaScript execution, an error report may be sent to the phpMyAdmin team if the user agrees.

The default setting of 'ask' will ask the user everytime there is a new error report. However you can set this parameter to 'always' to send error reports without asking for confirmation or you can set it to 'never' to never send error reports.

This directive is available both in the configuration file and in users preferences. If the person in charge of a multi-user installation prefers to disable this feature for all users, a value of 'never' should be set, and the $cfg['UserprefsDisallow'] directive should contain 'SendErrorReports' in one of its array values.

$cfg['ConsoleEnterExecutes']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Setting this to true allows the user to execute queries by pressing Enter instead of Ctrl+Enter. A new line can be inserted by pressing Shift + Enter.

The behaviour of the console can be temporarily changed using console’s settings interface.

$cfg['AllowThirdPartyFraming']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Setting this to true allows phpMyAdmin to be included inside a frame, and is a potential security hole allowing cross-frame scripting attacks or clickjacking.

Server connection settings¶

$cfg['Servers']¶

Type:	array
Default value:	one server array with settings listed below

Since version 1.4.2, phpMyAdmin supports the administration of multiple MySQL servers. Therefore, a $cfg['Servers']-array has been added which contains the login information for the different servers. The first $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] contains the hostname of the first server, the second $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] the hostname of the second server, etc. In libraries/config.default.php, there is only one section for server definition, however you can put as many as you need in config.inc.php, copy that block or needed parts (you don’t have to define all settings, just those you need to change).

Note

The $cfg['Servers'] array starts with $cfg[‘Servers’][1]. Do not use $cfg[‘Servers’][0]. If you want more than one server, just copy following section (including $i incrementation) serveral times. There is no need to define full server array, just define values you need to change.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'localhost'`

The hostname or IP address of your $i-th MySQL-server. E.g. localhost.

Possible values are:

hostname, e.g., 'localhost' or 'mydb.example.org'
IP address, e.g., '127.0.0.1' or '192.168.10.1'
IPv6 address, e.g. 2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652
dot - '.', i.e., use named pipes on windows systems
empty - '', disables this server

Note

The hostname localhost is handled specially by MySQL and it uses the socket based connection protocol. To use TCP/IP networking, use an IP address or hostname such as 127.0.0.1 or db.example.com. You can configure the path to the socket with $cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket'].

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

The port-number of your $i-th MySQL-server. Default is 3306 (leave blank).

Note

If you use localhost as the hostname, MySQL ignores this port number and connects with the socket, so if you want to connect to a port different from the default port, use 127.0.0.1 or the real hostname in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'].

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

The path to the socket to use. Leave blank for default. To determine the correct socket, check your MySQL configuration or, using the mysql command–line client, issue the status command. Among the resulting information displayed will be the socket used.

Note

This takes effect only if $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] is set to localhost.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Whether to enable SSL for the connection between phpMyAdmin and the MySQL server to secure the connection.

When using the 'mysql' extension, none of the remaining 'ssl...' configuration options apply.

We strongly recommend the 'mysqli' extension when using this option.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_key']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	NULL

Path to the key file when using SSL for connecting to the MySQL server.

For example:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_key'] = '/etc/mysql/server-key.pem';

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_cert']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	NULL

Path to the cert file when using SSL for connecting to the MySQL server.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_ca']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	NULL

Path to the CA file when using SSL for connecting to the MySQL server.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_ca_path']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	NULL

Directory containing trusted SSL CA certificates in PEM format.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_ciphers']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	NULL

List of allowable ciphers for SSL connections to the MySQL server.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['ssl_verify']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

New in version 4.6.0: This is supported since phpMyAdmin 4.6.0.

If your PHP install uses the MySQL Native Driver (mysqlnd), your MySQL server is 5.6 or later, and your SSL certificate is self-signed, there is a chance your SSL connection will fail due to validation. Setting this to false will disable the validation check.

Since PHP 5.6.0 it also verifies whether server name matches CN of its certificate. There is currently no way to disable just this check without disabling complete SSL verification.

Warning

Disabling the certificate verification defeats purpose of using SSL. This will make the connection vulnerable to man in the middle attacks.

Note

This flag only works with PHP 5.6.16 or later.

See also

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'tcp'`

Deprecated since version 4.7.0: This setting is no longer used as of 4.7.0, since MySQL decides the connection type based on host, so it could lead to unexpected results. Please set $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] accordingly instead.

What type connection to use with the MySQL server. Your options are 'socket' and 'tcp'. It defaults to tcp as that is nearly guaranteed to be available on all MySQL servers, while sockets are not supported on some platforms. To use the socket mode, your MySQL server must be on the same machine as the Web server.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Whether to use a compressed protocol for the MySQL server connection or not (experimental).

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlhost']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Permits to use an alternate host to hold the configuration storage data.

See also

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_*']

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlport']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Permits to use an alternate port to connect to the host that holds the configuration storage.

See also

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_*']

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controluser']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['controlpass']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

This special account is used to access phpMyAdmin configuration storage. You don’t need it in single user case, but if phpMyAdmin is shared it is recommended to give access to phpMyAdmin configuration storage only to this user and configure phpMyAdmin to use it. All users will then be able to use the features without need to have direct access to phpMyAdmin configuration storage.

Changed in version 2.2.5: those were called stduser and stdpass

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_*']¶

Type:	mixed

New in version 4.7.0.

You can change any MySQL connection setting for control link (used to access phpMyAdmin configuration storage) using configuration prefixed with control_.

This can be used to change any aspect of the control connection, which by default uses same parameters as the user one.

For example you can configure SSL for the control connection:

// Enable SSL
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_ssl'] = true;
// Client secret key
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_ssl_key'] = '../client-key.pem';
// Client certificate
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_ssl_cert'] = '../client-cert.pem';
// Server certification authority
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['control_ssl_ca'] = '../server-ca.pem';

See also

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'cookie'`

Whether config or cookie or HTTP or signon authentication should be used for this server.

‘config’ authentication ($auth_type = 'config') is the plain old way: username and password are stored in config.inc.php.
‘cookie’ authentication mode ($auth_type = 'cookie') allows you to log in as any valid MySQL user with the help of cookies.
‘http’ authentication allows you to log in as any valid MySQL user via HTTP-Auth.
‘signon’ authentication mode ($auth_type = 'signon') allows you to log in from prepared PHP session data or using supplied PHP script.

See also

Using authentication modes

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_http_realm']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

When using auth_type = http, this field allows to define a custom HTTP Basic Auth Realm which will be displayed to the user. If not explicitly specified in your configuration, a string combined of “phpMyAdmin ” and either $cfg['Servers'][$i]['verbose'] or $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] will be used.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'root'`

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

When using $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] set to ‘config’, this is the user/password-pair which phpMyAdmin will use to connect to the MySQL server. This user/password pair is not needed when HTTP or cookie authentication is used and should be empty.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['nopassword']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Deprecated since version 4.7.0: This setting was removed as it can produce unexpected results.

Allow attempt to log in without password when a login with password fails. This can be used together with http authentication, when authentication is done some other way and phpMyAdmin gets user name from auth and uses empty password for connecting to MySQL. Password login is still tried first, but as fallback, no password method is tried.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['only_db']¶

Type:	string or array
Default value:	`''`

If set to a (an array of) database name(s), only this (these) database(s) will be shown to the user. Since phpMyAdmin 2.2.1, this/these database(s) name(s) may contain MySQL wildcards characters (“_” and “%”): if you want to use literal instances of these characters, escape them (I.E. use 'my\_db' and not 'my_db').

This setting is an efficient way to lower the server load since the latter does not need to send MySQL requests to build the available database list. But it does not replace the privileges rules of the MySQL database server. If set, it just means only these databases will be displayed but not that all other databases can’t be used.

An example of using more that one database:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['only_db'] = array('db1', 'db2');

Changed in version 4.0.0: Previous versions permitted to specify the display order of the database names via this directive.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['hide_db']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Regular expression for hiding some databases from unprivileged users. This only hides them from listing, but a user is still able to access them (using, for example, the SQL query area). To limit access, use the MySQL privilege system. For example, to hide all databases starting with the letter “a”, use

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['hide_db'] = '^a';

and to hide both “db1” and “db2” use

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['hide_db'] = '^(db1|db2)$';

More information on regular expressions can be found in the PCRE pattern syntax portion of the PHP reference manual.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['verbose']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Only useful when using phpMyAdmin with multiple server entries. If set, this string will be displayed instead of the hostname in the pull-down menu on the main page. This can be useful if you want to show only certain databases on your system, for example. For HTTP auth, all non-US-ASCII characters will be stripped.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'mysqli'`

The PHP MySQL extension to use (mysql or mysqli).

It is recommended to use mysqli in all installations.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

The name of the database containing the phpMyAdmin configuration storage.

See the phpMyAdmin configuration storage section in this document to see the benefits of this feature, and for a quick way of creating this database and the needed tables.

If you are the only user of this phpMyAdmin installation, you can use your current database to store those special tables; in this case, just put your current database name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb']. For a multi-user installation, set this parameter to the name of your central database containing the phpMyAdmin configuration storage.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['bookmarktable']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 2.2.0 phpMyAdmin allows users to bookmark queries. This can be useful for queries you often run. To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
enter the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['bookmarktable']

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['relation']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 2.2.4 you can describe, in a special ‘relation’ table, which column is a key in another table (a foreign key). phpMyAdmin currently uses this to:

make clickable, when you browse the master table, the data values that point to the foreign table;
display in an optional tool-tip the “display column” when browsing the master table, if you move the mouse to a column containing a foreign key (use also the ‘table_info’ table); (see 6.7 How can I use the “display column” feature?)
in edit/insert mode, display a drop-down list of possible foreign keys (key value and “display column” are shown) (see 6.21 In edit/insert mode, how can I see a list of possible values for a column, based on some foreign table?)
display links on the table properties page, to check referential integrity (display missing foreign keys) for each described key;
in query-by-example, create automatic joins (see 6.6 How can I use the relation table in Query-by-example?)
enable you to get a PDF schema of your database (also uses the table_coords table).

The keys can be numeric or character.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the relation table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['relation']
now as normal user open phpMyAdmin and for each one of your tables where you want to use this feature, click Structure/Relation view/ and choose foreign columns.

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

Note

In the current version, master_db must be the same as foreign_db. Those columns have been put in future development of the cross-db relations.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_info']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 2.3.0 you can describe, in a special ‘table_info’ table, which column is to be displayed as a tool-tip when moving the cursor over the corresponding key. This configuration variable will hold the name of this special table. To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_info'] (e.g. pma__table_info)
then for each table where you want to use this feature, click “Structure/Relation view/Choose column to display” to choose the column.

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_coords']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

The designer feature can save your page layout; by pressing the “Save page” or “Save page as” button in the expanding designer menu, you can customize the layout and have it loaded the next time you use the designer. That layout is stored in this table. Furthermore, this table is also required for using the PDF relation export feature, see $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pdf_pages'] for additional details.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['pdf_pages']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 2.3.0 you can have phpMyAdmin create PDF pages showing the relations between your tables. Further, the designer interface permits visually managing the relations. To do this it needs two tables “pdf_pages” (storing information about the available PDF pages) and “table_coords” (storing coordinates where each table will be placed on a PDF schema output). You must be using the “relation” feature.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the correct table names in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_coords'] and $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pdf_pages']

This feature can be disabled by setting either of the configurations to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_info']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

This part requires a content update! Since release 2.3.0 you can store comments to describe each column for each table. These will then be shown on the “printview”.

Starting with release 2.5.0, comments are consequently used on the table property pages and table browse view, showing up as tool-tips above the column name (properties page) or embedded within the header of table in browse view. They can also be shown in a table dump. Please see the relevant configuration directives later on.

Also new in release 2.5.0 is a MIME- transformation system which is also based on the following table structure. See Transformations for further information. To use the MIME- transformation system, your column_info table has to have the three new columns ‘mimetype’, ‘transformation’, ‘transformation_options’.

Starting with release 4.3.0, a new input-oriented transformation system has been introduced. Also, backward compatibility code used in the old transformations system was removed. As a result, an update to column_info table is necessary for previous transformations and the new input-oriented transformation system to work. phpMyAdmin will upgrade it automatically for you by analyzing your current column_info table structure. However, if something goes wrong with the auto-upgrade then you can use the SQL script found in ./sql/upgrade_column_info_4_3_0+.sql to upgrade it manually.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_info'] (e.g. pma__column_info)
to update your PRE-2.5.0 Column_comments table use this: and remember that the Variable in config.inc.php has been renamed from $cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_comments'] to $cfg['Servers'][$i]['column_info']
```
ALTER TABLE `pma__column_comments`
ADD `mimetype` VARCHAR( 255 ) NOT NULL,
ADD `transformation` VARCHAR( 255 ) NOT NULL,
ADD `transformation_options` VARCHAR( 255 ) NOT NULL;
```
to update your PRE-4.3.0 Column_info table manually use this ./sql/upgrade_column_info_4_3_0+.sql SQL script.

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

Note

For auto-upgrade functionality to work, your $cfg['Servers'][$i]['controluser'] must have ALTER privilege on phpmyadmin database. See the MySQL documentation for GRANT on how to GRANT privileges to a user.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['history']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 2.5.0 you can store your SQL history, which means all queries you entered manually into the phpMyAdmin interface. If you don’t want to use a table-based history, you can use the JavaScript-based history.

Using that, all your history items are deleted when closing the window. Using $cfg['QueryHistoryMax'] you can specify an amount of history items you want to have on hold. On every login, this list gets cut to the maximum amount.

The query history is only available if JavaScript is enabled in your browser.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['history'] (e.g. pma__history)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['recent']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 3.5.0 you can show recently used tables in the navigation panel. It helps you to jump across table directly, without the need to select the database, and then select the table. Using $cfg['NumRecentTables'] you can configure the maximum number of recent tables shown. When you select a table from the list, it will jump to the page specified in $cfg['NavigationTreeDefaultTabTable'].

Without configuring the storage, you can still access the recently used tables, but it will disappear after you logout.

To allow the usage of this functionality persistently:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['recent'] (e.g. pma__recent)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['favorite']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.2.0 you can show a list of selected tables in the navigation panel. It helps you to jump to the table directly, without the need to select the database, and then select the table. When you select a table from the list, it will jump to the page specified in $cfg['NavigationTreeDefaultTabTable'].

You can add tables to this list or remove tables from it in database structure page by clicking on the star icons next to table names. Using $cfg['NumFavoriteTables'] you can configure the maximum number of favorite tables shown.

Without configuring the storage, you can still access the favorite tables, but it will disappear after you logout.

To allow the usage of this functionality persistently:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['favorite'] (e.g. pma__favorite)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_uiprefs']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 3.5.0 phpMyAdmin can be configured to remember several things (sorted column $cfg['RememberSorting'], column order, and column visibility from a database table) for browsing tables. Without configuring the storage, these features still can be used, but the values will disappear after you logout.

To allow the usage of these functionality persistently:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_uiprefs'] (e.g. pma__table_uiprefs)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['users']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['usergroups']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.1.0 you can create different user groups with menu items attached to them. Users can be assigned to these groups and the logged in user would only see menu items configured to the usergroup he is assigned to. To do this it needs two tables “usergroups” (storing allowed menu items for each user group) and “users” (storing users and their assignments to user groups).

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the correct table names in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['users'] (e.g. pma__users) and $cfg['Servers'][$i]['usergroups'] (e.g. pma__usergroups)

This feature can be disabled by setting either of the configurations to false.

See also

Configurable menus and user groups

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['navigationhiding']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.1.0 you can hide/show items in the navigation tree.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['navigationhiding'] (e.g. pma__navigationhiding)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['central_columns']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.3.0 you can have a central list of columns per database. You can add/remove columns to the list as per your requirement. These columns in the central list will be available to use while you create a new column for a table or create a table itself. You can select a column from central list while creating a new column, it will save you from writing the same column definition over again or from writing different names for similar column.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['central_columns'] (e.g. pma__central_columns)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['designer_settings']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.5.0 your designer settings can be remembered. Your choice regarding ‘Angular/Direct Links’, ‘Snap to Grid’, ‘Toggle Relation Lines’, ‘Small/Big All’, ‘Move Menu’ and ‘Pin Text’ can be remembered persistently.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['designer_settings'] (e.g. pma__designer_settings)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['savedsearches']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.2.0 you can save and load query-by-example searches from the Database > Query panel.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['savedsearches'] (e.g. pma__savedsearches)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['export_templates']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 4.5.0 you can save and load export templates.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['export_templates'] (e.g. pma__export_templates)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 3.3.x a tracking mechanism is available. It helps you to track every SQL command which is executed by phpMyAdmin. The mechanism supports logging of data manipulation and data definition statements. After enabling it you can create versions of tables.

The creation of a version has two effects:

phpMyAdmin saves a snapshot of the table, including structure and indexes.
phpMyAdmin logs all commands which change the structure and/or data of the table and links these commands with the version number.

Of course you can view the tracked changes. On the Tracking page a complete report is available for every version. For the report you can use filters, for example you can get a list of statements within a date range. When you want to filter usernames you can enter * for all names or you enter a list of names separated by ‘,’. In addition you can export the (filtered) report to a file or to a temporary database.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking'] (e.g. pma__tracking)

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking_version_auto_create']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Whether the tracking mechanism creates versions for tables and views automatically.

If this is set to true and you create a table or view with

CREATE TABLE ...
CREATE VIEW ...

and no version exists for it, the mechanism will create a version for you automatically.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking_default_statements']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'CREATE TABLE,ALTER TABLE,DROP TABLE,RENAME TABLE,CREATE INDEX,DROP INDEX,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,TRUNCATE,REPLACE,CREATE VIEW,ALTER VIEW,DROP VIEW,CREATE DATABASE,ALTER DATABASE,DROP DATABASE'`

Defines the list of statements the auto-creation uses for new versions.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking_add_drop_view']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether a DROP VIEW IF EXISTS statement will be added as first line to the log when creating a view.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking_add_drop_table']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether a DROP TABLE IF EXISTS statement will be added as first line to the log when creating a table.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['tracking_add_drop_database']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether a DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS statement will be added as first line to the log when creating a database.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['userconfig']¶

Type:	string or false
Default value:	`''`

Since release 3.4.x phpMyAdmin allows users to set most preferences by themselves and store them in the database.

If you don’t allow for storing preferences in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'], users can still personalize phpMyAdmin, but settings will be saved in browser’s local storage, or, it is is unavailable, until the end of session.

To allow the usage of this functionality:

set up $cfg['Servers'][$i]['pmadb'] and the phpMyAdmin configuration storage
put the table name in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['userconfig']

This feature can be disabled by setting the configuration to false.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['MaxTableUiprefs']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	100

Maximum number of rows saved in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_uiprefs'] table.

When tables are dropped or renamed, $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_uiprefs'] may contain invalid data (referring to tables which no longer exist). We only keep this number of newest rows in $cfg['Servers'][$i]['table_uiprefs'] and automatically delete older rows.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SessionTimeZone']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Sets the time zone used by phpMyAdmin. Leave blank to use the time zone of your database server. Possible values are explained at https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/time-zone-support.html

This is useful when your database server uses a time zone which is different from the time zone you want to use in phpMyAdmin.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowRoot']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether to allow root access. This is just a shortcut for the $cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowDeny']['rules'] below.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Whether to allow logins without a password. The default value of false for this parameter prevents unintended access to a MySQL server with was left with an empty password for root or on which an anonymous (blank) user is defined.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowDeny']['order']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

If your rule order is empty, then IP authorization is disabled.

If your rule order is set to 'deny,allow' then the system applies all deny rules followed by allow rules. Access is allowed by default. Any client which does not match a Deny command or does match an Allow command will be allowed access to the server.

If your rule order is set to 'allow,deny' then the system applies all allow rules followed by deny rules. Access is denied by default. Any client which does not match an Allow directive or does match a Deny directive will be denied access to the server.

If your rule order is set to 'explicit', authorization is performed in a similar fashion to rule order ‘deny,allow’, with the added restriction that your host/username combination must be listed in the allow rules, and not listed in the deny rules. This is the most secure means of using Allow/Deny rules, and was available in Apache by specifying allow and deny rules without setting any order.

Please also see $cfg['TrustedProxies'] for detecting IP address behind proxies.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowDeny']['rules']¶

Type:	array of strings
Default value:	array()

The general format for the rules is as such:

<'allow' | 'deny'> <username> [from] <ipmask>

If you wish to match all users, it is possible to use a '%' as a wildcard in the username field.

There are a few shortcuts you can use in the ipmask field as well (please note that those containing SERVER_ADDRESS might not be available on all webservers):

'all' -> 0.0.0.0/0
'localhost' -> 127.0.0.1/8
'localnetA' -> SERVER_ADDRESS/8
'localnetB' -> SERVER_ADDRESS/16
'localnetC' -> SERVER_ADDRESS/24

Having an empty rule list is equivalent to either using 'allow % from all' if your rule order is set to 'deny,allow' or 'deny % from all' if your rule order is set to 'allow,deny' or 'explicit'.

For the IP address matching system, the following work:

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (an exact IP address)
xxx.xxx.xxx.[yyy-zzz] (an IP address range)
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/nn (CIDR, Classless Inter-Domain Routing type IP addresses)

But the following does not work:

xxx.xxx.xxx.xx[yyy-zzz] (partial IP address range)

For IPv6 addresses, the following work:

xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx (an exact IPv6 address)
xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:[yyyy-zzzz] (an IPv6 address range)
xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx/nn (CIDR, Classless Inter-Domain Routing type IPv6 addresses)

But the following does not work:

xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xx[yyy-zzz] (partial IPv6 address range)

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['DisableIS']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Disable using INFORMATION_SCHEMA to retrieve information (use SHOW commands instead), because of speed issues when many databases are present.

Note

Enabling this option might give you big performance boost on older MySQL servers.

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonScript']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

New in version 3.5.0.

Name of PHP script to be sourced and executed to obtain login credentials. This is alternative approach to session based single signon. The script has to provide a function called get_login_credentials which returns list of username and password, accepting single parameter of existing username (can be empty). See examples/signon-script.php for an example:

<?php
/* vim: set expandtab sw=4 ts=4 sts=4: */
/**
 * Single signon for phpMyAdmin
 *
 * This is just example how to use script based single signon with
 * phpMyAdmin, it is not intended to be perfect code and look, only
 * shows how you can integrate this functionality in your application.
 *
 * @package    PhpMyAdmin
 * @subpackage Example
 */


/**
 * This function returns username and password.
 *
 * It can optionally use configured username as parameter.
 *
 * @param string $user User name
 *
 * @return array
 */
function get_login_credentials($user)
{
    /* Optionally we can use passed username */
    if (!empty($user)) {
        return array($user, 'password');
    }

    /* Here we would retrieve the credentials */
    $credentials = array('root', '');

    return $credentials;
}

See also

Signon authentication mode

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonSession']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Name of session which will be used for signon authentication method. You should use something different than phpMyAdmin, because this is session which phpMyAdmin uses internally. Takes effect only if $cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonScript'] is not configured.

See also

Signon authentication mode

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonCookieParams']¶

Type:	array
Default value:	`array()`

New in version 4.7.0.

An associative array of session cookie parameters of other authentication system. It is not needed if the other system doesn’t use session_set_cookie_params(). Keys should include ‘lifetime’, ‘path’, ‘domain’, ‘secure’ or ‘httponly’. Valid values are mentioned in session_get_cookie_params, they should be set to same values as the other application uses. Takes effect only if $cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonScript'] is not configured.

See also

Signon authentication mode

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonURL']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

URL where user will be redirected to log in for signon authentication method. Should be absolute including protocol.

See also

Signon authentication mode

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['LogoutURL']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

URL where user will be redirected after logout (doesn’t affect config authentication method). Should be absolute including protocol.

Generic settings¶

$cfg['DisableShortcutKeys']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

You can disable phpMyAdmin shortcut keys by setting $cfg['DisableShortcutKeys'] to false.

$cfg['ServerDefault']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	1

If you have more than one server configured, you can set $cfg['ServerDefault'] to any one of them to autoconnect to that server when phpMyAdmin is started, or set it to 0 to be given a list of servers without logging in.

If you have only one server configured, $cfg['ServerDefault'] MUST be set to that server.

$cfg['VersionCheck']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Enables check for latest versions using JavaScript on the main phpMyAdmin page or by directly accessing version_check.php.

Note

This setting can be adjusted by your vendor.

$cfg['ProxyUrl']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	“”

The url of the proxy to be used when phpmyadmin needs to access the outside internet such as when retrieving the latest version info or submitting error reports. You need this if the server where phpMyAdmin is installed does not have direct access to the internet. The format is: “hostname:portnumber”

$cfg['ProxyUser']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	“”

The username for authenticating with the proxy. By default, no authentication is performed. If a username is supplied, Basic Authentication will be performed. No other types of authentication are currently supported.

$cfg['ProxyPass']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	“”

The password for authenticating with the proxy.

$cfg['MaxDbList']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	100

The maximum number of database names to be displayed in the main panel’s database list.

$cfg['MaxTableList']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	250

The maximum number of table names to be displayed in the main panel’s list (except on the Export page).

$cfg['ShowHint']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether or not to show hints (for example, hints when hovering over table headers).

$cfg['MaxCharactersInDisplayedSQL']¶

Type:	integer
Default value:	1000

The maximum number of characters when a SQL query is displayed. The default limit of 1000 should be correct to avoid the display of tons of hexadecimal codes that represent BLOBs, but some users have real SQL queries that are longer than 1000 characters. Also, if a query’s length exceeds this limit, this query is not saved in the history.

$cfg['PersistentConnections']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Whether persistent connections should be used or not. Works with following extensions:

mysql (mysql_pconnect),
mysqli (requires PHP 5.3.0 or newer, more information).

$cfg['ForceSSL']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Deprecated since version 4.6.0: This setting is no longer available since phpMyAdmin 4.6.0. Please adjust your webserver instead.

Whether to force using https while accessing phpMyAdmin. In a reverse proxy setup, setting this to true is not supported.

Note

In some setups (like separate SSL proxy or load balancer) you might have to set $cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] for correct redirection.

$cfg['ExecTimeLimit']¶

Type:	integer [number of seconds]
Default value:	300

Set the number of seconds a script is allowed to run. If seconds is set to zero, no time limit is imposed. This setting is used while importing/exporting dump files but has no effect when PHP is running in safe mode.

$cfg['SessionSavePath']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Path for storing session data (session_save_path PHP parameter).

$cfg['MemoryLimit']¶

Type:	string [number of bytes]
Default value:	`'-1'`

Set the number of bytes a script is allowed to allocate. If set to '-1', no limit is imposed. If set to '0', no change of the memory limit is attempted and the php.ini memory_limit is used.

This setting is used while importing/exporting dump files so you definitely don’t want to put here a too low value. It has no effect when PHP is running in safe mode.

You can also use any string as in php.ini, eg. ‘16M’. Ensure you don’t omit the suffix (16 means 16 bytes!)

$cfg['SkipLockedTables']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Mark used tables and make it possible to show databases with locked tables (since MySQL 3.23.30).

$cfg['ShowSQL']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Defines whether SQL queries generated by phpMyAdmin should be displayed or not.

$cfg['RetainQueryBox']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Defines whether the SQL query box should be kept displayed after its submission.

$cfg['CodemirrorEnable']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Defines whether to use a Javascript code editor for SQL query boxes. CodeMirror provides syntax highlighting and line numbers. However, middle-clicking for pasting the clipboard contents in some Linux distributions (such as Ubuntu) is not supported by all browsers.

$cfg['DefaultForeignKeyChecks']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`'default'`

Default value of the checkbox for foreign key checks, to disable/enable foreign key checks for certain queries. The possible values are 'default', 'enable' or 'disable'. If set to 'default', the value of the MySQL variable FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS is used.

$cfg['AllowUserDropDatabase']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Warning

This is not a security measure as there will be always ways to circumvent this. If you want to prohibit users from dropping databases, revoke their corresponding DROP privilege.

Defines whether normal users (non-administrator) are allowed to delete their own database or not. If set as false, the link Drop Database will not be shown, and even a DROP DATABASE mydatabase will be rejected. Quite practical for ISP ‘s with many customers.

This limitation of SQL queries is not as strict as when using MySQL privileges. This is due to nature of SQL queries which might be quite complicated. So this choice should be viewed as help to avoid accidental dropping rather than strict privilege limitation.

$cfg['Confirm']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Whether a warning (“Are your really sure...”) should be displayed when you’re about to lose data.

$cfg['UseDbSearch']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Define whether the “search string inside database” is enabled or not.

$cfg['IgnoreMultiSubmitErrors']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

Define whether phpMyAdmin will continue executing a multi-query statement if one of the queries fails. Default is to abort execution.

Cookie authentication options¶

$cfg['blowfish_secret']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

The “cookie” auth_type uses AES algorithm to encrypt the password. If you are using the “cookie” auth_type, enter here a random passphrase of your choice. It will be used internally by the AES algorithm: you won’t be prompted for this passphrase.

The secret should be 32 characters long. Using shorter will lead to weaker security of encrypted cookies, using longer will cause no harm.

Note

The configuration is called blowfish_secret for historical reasons as Blowfish algorithm was originally used to do the encryption.

Changed in version 3.1.0: Since version 3.1.0 phpMyAdmin can generate this on the fly, but it makes a bit weaker security as this generated secret is stored in session and furthermore it makes impossible to recall user name from cookie.

$cfg['LoginCookieRecall']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

Define whether the previous login should be recalled or not in cookie authentication mode.

This is automatically disabled if you do not have configured $cfg['blowfish_secret'].

$cfg['LoginCookieValidity']¶

Type:	integer [number of seconds]
Default value:	1440

Define how long a login cookie is valid. Please note that php configuration option session.gc_maxlifetime might limit session validity and if the session is lost, the login cookie is also invalidated. So it is a good idea to set session.gc_maxlifetime at least to the same value of $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'].

$cfg['LoginCookieStore']¶

Type:	integer [number of seconds]
Default value:	0

Define how long login cookie should be stored in browser. Default 0 means that it will be kept for existing session. This is recommended for not trusted environments.

$cfg['LoginCookieDeleteAll']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	true

If enabled (default), logout deletes cookies for all servers, otherwise only for current one. Setting this to false makes it easy to forget to log out from other server, when you are using more of them.

$cfg['AllowArbitraryServer']¶

Type:	boolean
Default value:	false

If enabled, allows you to log in to arbitrary servers using cookie authentication.

Note

Please use this carefully, as this may allow users access to MySQL servers behind the firewall where your HTTP server is placed. See also $cfg['ArbitraryServerRegexp'].

$cfg['ArbitraryServerRegexp']¶

Type:	string
Default value:	`''`

Restricts the MySQL servers to which the user can log in when $cfg['AllowArbitraryServer'] is enabled by matching the IP or the hostname of the MySQL server to the given regular expression. The regular expression must be enclosed with a delimiter character.

It is recommended to include start and end symbols in the regullar expression, so that you can avoid partial matches on the string.

Examples:

// Allow connection to three listed servers:
$cfg['ArbitraryServerRegexp'] = '/^(server|another|yetdifferent)$/';

// Allow connection to range of IP addresses:
$cfg['ArbitraryServerRegexp'] = '@^192\.168\.0\.[0-9]{1,}$@';

// Allow connection to server name ending with -mysql:
$cfg['ArbitraryServerRegexp'] = '@^[^:]\-mysql$@';

Note

The whole server name is matched, it can include port as well. Due to way MySQL is permissive in connection parameters, it is possible to use connection strings as `server:3306-mysql`. This can be used to bypass regullar expression by the suffix, while connecti