How to install phpMyAdmin on CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora

phpMyAdmin is a web-based tool for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases. It provides an intuitive interface for performing tasks like managing databases, running queries, and handling user permissions. Installing phpMyAdmin on CentOS, Red Hat, or Fedora requires configuring the web server and PHP dependencies, as phpMyAdmin is not included in the default repositories for some of these distributions.

To install phpMyAdmin on these systems, you must enable the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository, which provides additional software packages like phpMyAdmin. The process also involves setting up the required services, such as Apache and PHP, and securing the installation for remote access.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing phpMyAdmin on CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora.

Steps to install phpMyAdmin on CentOS, Red Hat, or Fedora:

Enable the EPEL repository to access additional packages.

$ sudo dnf install epel-release
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:01 ago on Mon 21 Sep 2024 09:12:17 AM UTC.
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================================
 Package                 Architecture       Version               Repository                     Size
========================================================================================================
Installing:
 epel-release            noarch             8-11.el8              extras                          22 k

Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================
Install  1 Package

Total download size: 22 k
Installed size: 32 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
epel-release-8-11.el8.noarch.rpm                                                123 kB/s |  22 kB  00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing  : epel-release-8-11.el8.noarch                                                        1/1
  Verifying   : epel-release-8-11.el8.noarch                                                        1/1

Installed:
  epel-release-8-11.el8.noarch
Complete!

Update the package list to ensure it includes the latest available versions.

$ sudo dnf update
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:01 ago on Mon 21 Sep 2024 09:12:17 AM UTC.
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete!

Install phpMyAdmin via the dnf package manager.

$ sudo dnf install phpMyAdmin
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================================
 Package                          Architecture          Version                Repository           Size
========================================================================================================
Installing:
 phpMyAdmin                       noarch                5.0.4-1.el8            epel                 5.6 M
 php-mbstring                     x86_64                7.4.6-1.el8            base                 488 k
 php-zip                          x86_64                7.4.6-1.el8            base                 110 k
Installing dependencies:
 php-json                         x86_64                7.4.6-1.el8            base                  66 k

Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================
Install  4 Packages

Total download size: 6.2 M
Installed size: 28 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/4): php-mbstring-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64.rpm                                        129 kB/s | 488 kB  00:03
(2/4): php-zip-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64.rpm                                             92 kB/s | 110 kB  00:01
(3/4): php-json-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64.rpm                                            82 kB/s |  66 kB  00:00
(4/4): phpMyAdmin-5.0.4-1.el8.noarch.rpm                                         129 kB/s | 5.6 MB  00:44
Running transaction check
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing  : php-json-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                       1/4
  Installing  : php-mbstring-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                   2/4
  Installing  : php-zip-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                        3/4
  Installing  : phpMyAdmin-5.0.4-1.el8.noarch                                                     4/4
  Verifying   : php-zip-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                        1/4
  Verifying   : php-mbstring-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                   2/4
  Verifying   : php-json-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64                                                       3/4
  Verifying   : phpMyAdmin-5.0.4-1.el8.noarch                                                     4/4

Installed:
  phpMyAdmin-5.0.4-1.el8.noarch           php-json-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64           php-mbstring-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64
  php-zip-7.4.6-1.el8.x86_64

Complete!

Install Apache and PHP if they are not already installed.

$ sudo dnf install httpd php php-mysqlnd
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================================
 Package                       Arch            Version                       Repo                  Size
========================================================================================================
Installing:
 httpd                         x86_64          2.4.37-16.module+el8.2.0+4109+617a9a99          AppStream 1.4 M
 php                           x86_64          7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993            AppStream 1.5 M
 php-mysqlnd                   x86_64          7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993            AppStream 178 k

Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================
Install  3 Packages

Total download size: 3.0 M
Installed size: 8.9 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/3): httpd-2.4.37-16.module+el8.2.0+4109+617a9a99.x86_64.rpm               123 kB/s | 1.4 MB  00:11
(2/3): php-mysqlnd-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64.rpm            88 kB/s | 178 kB  00:02
(3/3): php-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64.rpm                   103 kB/s | 1.5 MB  00:14
Running transaction check
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing  : php-mysqlnd-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64                       1/3
  Installing  : php-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64                               2/3
  Installing  : httpd-2.4.37-16.module+el8.2.0+4109+617a9a99.x86_64                           3/3
  Verifying   : php-mysqlnd-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64                       1/3
  Verifying   : php-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64                               2/3
  Verifying   : httpd-2.4.37-16.module+el8.2.0+4109+617a9a99.x86_64                           3/3

Installed:
  httpd-2.4.37-16.module+el8.2.0+4109+617a9a99.x86_64    php-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64
  php-mysqlnd-7.2.24-1.module+el8.2.0+339+ee0d5993.x86_64

Complete!

Start and enable Apache to run on boot.

$ sudo systemctl start httpd
$ sudo systemctl enable httpd
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/httpd.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service.

Open the phpMyAdmin configuration file for Apache.
```
$ sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf
```
Uncomment the Alias line to set the URL path for accessing phpMyAdmin.
```
Alias /phpmyadmin "/usr/share/phpMyAdmin"
```
Edit the access control rules in the same file to allow remote access.
```
Require all granted
```
Restart the Apache web server to apply the changes.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart httpd
```

Secure the phpMyAdmin installation by adding password protection. Create a .htpasswd file for authentication.

$ htpasswd -c /etc/phpMyAdmin/.htpasswd your_username
New password: 
Re-type new password: 
Adding password for user your_username

Edit the phpMyAdmin configuration file to require authentication for access.

<Directory "/usr/share/phpMyAdmin">
AuthType Basic
AuthName "phpMyAdmin"
AuthUserFile /etc/phpMyAdmin/.htpasswd
Require valid-user
</Directory>

Restart Apache to apply the security changes.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart httpd
```

Open the firewall to allow HTTP traffic if necessary.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=http
success
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload
success

Access phpMyAdmin through your browser by visiting the server’s IP or hostname.
```
http://server_ip_or_hostname/phpmyadmin
```
Enter the MySQL or MariaDB root credentials when prompted to log into the phpMyAdmin dashboard.

This guide is tested on CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora:

Version	Details
CentOS 8.x	Supported
Red Hat 8.x	Supported
Fedora 37	Supported

Author: Mohd Shakir Zakaria
Mohd Shakir Zakaria is a cloud architect with deep roots in software development and open-source advocacy. Certified in AWS, Red Hat, VMware, ITIL, and Linux, he specializes in designing and managing robust cloud and on-premises infrastructures.

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