How To Disable Deprecation Warnings in phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu

Deprecation warnings are messages that indicate a piece of code, function, or feature is outdated and may be removed in future versions. While these warnings are useful for developers to update their code, they can be annoying when you’re trying to work with your databases using phpMyAdmin. In this article, we will walk you through the steps to disable deprecation warnings in phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu.

Understanding Deprecation Warnings

Deprecation warnings are not errors, but notifications about parts of PHP code that will not work in future versions. These warnings are important because they give developers time to update their code before the deprecated elements are removed in future PHP versions. However, if you’re using phpMyAdmin for database management and don’t plan to update the PHP code, these warnings can be unnecessary and distracting.

Disabling Deprecation Warnings in phpMyAdmin

There are two main methods to disable deprecation warnings in phpMyAdmin: modifying the config.inc.php file or the config.default.php file.

Method 1: Modifying the config.inc.php File

The config.inc.php file is the main configuration file for phpMyAdmin. Here’s how to modify it:

1. Open the terminal and navigate to phpMyAdmin’s top-level directory. By default, it should be located at /usr/share/phpmyadmin/.
2. Open the config.inc.php file in a text editor. For example, you can use nano editor by typing sudo nano config.inc.php.
3. Add the following line of code to the file:

$cfg['SendErrorReports'] = 'never';

This line of code sets the SendErrorReports configuration option to 'never', which means phpMyAdmin will never send error reports, including deprecation warnings.

4. Save the changes and exit the text editor. If you’re using nano, press Ctrl + X, then Y and Enter to save and exit.

Method 2: Modifying the config.default.php File

If the changes made in config.inc.php are not being loaded, you can modify the config.default.php file instead. Here’s how:

1. Navigate to phpMyAdmin’s libraries directory. By default, it should be located at /usr/share/phpmyadmin/libraries/.
2. Open the config.default.php file in a text editor.
3. Search for the line that sets the SendErrorReports configuration option. It should look like this:

$cfg['SendErrorReports'] = 'always';

4. Change the value from 'always' to 'never'.
5. Save the changes and exit the text editor.

Please note that modifying the config.default.php file may be overwritten during a future upgrade of phpMyAdmin. Therefore, it is recommended to use the first method if possible.

Suppressing Deprecation Warnings in PHP Scripts

If you want to disable deprecation warnings only for phpMyAdmin without affecting other projects, you can add the following line of code to your PHP code:

error_reporting(E_ALL ^ E_DEPRECATED);

This line of code sets the error reporting level to all errors except deprecation warnings. This is useful if you want to suppress deprecation warnings for a specific PHP script without affecting the rest of your projects.

Conclusion

While disabling deprecation warnings in phpMyAdmin can make your work less distracting, it’s important to remember that these warnings are there for a reason. They notify you about outdated code that may not work in future PHP versions. Therefore, it’s generally recommended to update any deprecated code instead of suppressing the warnings.

However, if you’re confident that the deprecated code won’t affect your projects, you can follow the steps in this article to disable deprecation warnings in phpMyAdmin on Ubuntu.