How to find phpMyAdmin configuration files

phpMyAdmin loads built-in defaults before applying installation-specific overrides. The file that matters therefore depends on how the application was packaged, and changing a nearby sample or default file can leave the running interface unchanged.

A source archive normally keeps config.inc.php in the directory that contains index.php. Debian and Ubuntu packages relocate that global override to /etc/phpmyadmin, while the official Docker image generates its global file and loads config.user.inc.php afterward for operator overrides.

The application root contains a vendor mapping that records the packaged configuration location. Reading only that mapping and linting the selected file avoids displaying credentials or unrelated settings while still confirming that the path is usable.

1. Search /etc/phpmyadmin and the phpMyAdmin application root for global and Docker user-override files.

   $ find /etc/phpmyadmin /var/www/html -maxdepth 2 -type f \( -name 'config.inc.php' -o -name 'config.user.inc.php' \) -print
   /etc/phpmyadmin/config.user.inc.php
   /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php

   The transcript uses /var/www/html as the application root. A source archive normally returns config.inc.php beside index.php.

2. Read the packaged global configuration path from <phpMyAdmin root>/libraries/vendor_config.php.

   $ grep -n "'configFile'" /var/www/html/libraries/vendor_config.php
   46:    'configFile' => '/etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php',

   The transcript uses /var/www/html as the application root. The file named by configFile holds global overrides; the official Docker image loads /etc/phpmyadmin/config.user.inc.php afterward for persistent operator overrides.

3. Validate the selected global configuration file with the PHP parser.

   $ php -l /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php
   No syntax errors detected in /etc/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php

   php -l parses the file without printing its settings. A missing config.inc.php in a source-archive installation means phpMyAdmin is using built-in defaults until an override file is created.