phpmyadmin package does not work "out of the box"

[Aren Cambre]

Binary package hint: phpmyadmin

See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3683702. The phpmyadmin package is missing a symbolic link that would make it work.

[Thijs Kinkhorst (kink)]

I doubt this assessment. phpmyadmin configuration works fine for me: after installation, it asks which web server to configure. Selecting apache will configure apache including the needed symlink. Please elaborate on what you think is missing.

[Rui Bernardo (epimeteo)]

From the dedian changelog of phpmyadmin package, updated in Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:17:13 +0200 by Thijs Kinkhorst, to ubuntu 7.10 gutsy:

phpmyadmin (4:2.10.1-1) unstable; urgency=high

  * New upstream release.
    - Security fix: PMASA-2007-4: Cross Site Scripting.
  * Warn about obsolete /var/www/phpmyadmin symlink.
  * Install translators.html as documentation for proper crediting.

 -- Thijs Kinkhorst <email address hidden> Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:17:13 +0200

So it isn't suppose to create a symlink. The phpmyadmin is on apache2 through an alias created by a linked apache.conf in /etc/phpmyadmin/. Just point your browser to that address.

[Martin Fitzpatrick (mfitzp)]

Blowfish error makes it impossible to use phpmyadmin after first install - this is on a clean install of Hardy (amd64) although I have had the same problem on every clean install of Ubuntu I've attempted. The error message requests, although a passphrase is in the following file:

/var/lib/phpmyadmin/blowfish_secret.inc.php

If you copy that passphrase and paste it into:

/etc/phpmyadmin/blowfish_secret.inc.php

It will start phpmyadmin fine. My understanding is that the second file is the Debian config file (i.e. the one that is being used) from the package, but I'm not sure where the second one is coming from - it doesn't seem to be in the package itself.

Thijs: Are you sure you're testing this on a new install? I have fixed this problem a number of times in the past and always forget about it after the fact :)

[Thijs Kinkhorst (kink)]

You are using a package with a version >= 4:2.10?

[Thijs Kinkhorst (kink)]

Still waiting for reporter feedback... can this be closed?

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

OK, finally was able to test out again. I am running a fairly fresh, clean install of Ubuntu 8.04. This is a clean install, not an upgrade from something else.

I installed phpmyadmin, the latest package, using aptitude.

I immediately went to /etc/apache2/conf.d and noticed that, again, no symbolic link is created.

Note that I am using apache2. I selected that when I installed.

[Thijs Kinkhorst (kink)]

What debconf priority are you using?

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

Sorry, not sure what you mean by that.

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

Just want to say I tried it again this time with jeos-8.04.1-jeos-i386.iso. I then loaded aptitude and installed apache2, phpmyadmin, and all parts they require.

Yet again, phpmyadmin fails to work out of the box. I checked all relevant files under /etc/apache2, and I could find no reference to phpmyadmin.

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

Thijs wrote: "after installation, it asks which web server to configure."

I removed phpmyadmin and then later reinstalled it using aptitude. At no point did it ask me what server I am running.

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

OK, I flattened my VM and tried again from scratch so I could tell you my steps. Here they are:
1. Install base OS using jeos-8.04.1-jeos-i386.iso.
2. sudo aptitude, install all updates and upgrades.
3. Still in aptitude, install apache2 and all dependencies selected by aptitude.
4. Still in aptitude, install mysql-common-5.0 (I think that was it? Cannot remember the exact selection) and all dependencies selected by aptitude.
5. Still in aptitude, install phpmyadmin and all dependencies selected by aptitude. When the "Configuring phpmyadmin" screen came up, I selected apache2, which was the default selection. See attachment.

phpMyAdmin does not work. If I browse to http://[vm's address]/phpmyadmin or http://[vm's address]/phpMyAdmin, I get a 404. I can find nothing under /etc/apache2 to suggest that phpmyadmin has modified any files.

[Brett Alton (brett-alton-deactivatedaccount)]

As epimeteo said in the forums:

----

You don't need any link to /var/www/. You can remove that link try:

http://localhost/phpmyadmin

It will work.

The phpmyadmin alias in apache is set in /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf and this one is linked to /etc/apache2/conf.d/phpmyadmin.conf, so there is no need to add a link to /var/www/, unless you want it to be clearly visible to others.

----

I actually never knew this and always ran `sudo ln -s /etc/phpmyadmin /var/www/admin`.

I can confirm that http://localhost/phpmyadmin works without modification (as per my one liner above) in Hardy and Intrepid.

[Brett Alton (brett-alton-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry, I meant '/usr/share/phpmyadmin' not '/etc/phpmyadmin'

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

I reproduced again with 8.10. This is not incomplete--it simply doesn't work out of the box. Additional configuration is necessary.

[Aren Cambre (aren)]

Just figured out the problem: you have to press SPACE to activate the current selection. The red icon made it look like apache2 was selected by default. UI improvement needed!