Fixing Phpmyadmin not Running on Ubuntu

In this article, we will discuss how to troubleshoot and fix the issue of phpMyAdmin not running on Ubuntu. phpMyAdmin is a free and open-source tool written in PHP, intended to handle the administration of MySQL or MariaDB with the use of a web browser. However, sometimes, you may encounter issues with phpMyAdmin not running on your Ubuntu system.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the troubleshooting process, make sure that you have sudo or root privileges on the Ubuntu system where you are trying to run phpMyAdmin.

Step 1: Verify phpMyAdmin Installation

The first step in troubleshooting is to ensure that phpMyAdmin is installed correctly on your system. You can install it using the following command:

sudo apt install phpmyadmin

This command uses the apt package handling utility to install the phpmyadmin package. The sudo command is used to run this command with root privileges.

Step 2: Modify Apache Configuration File

After ensuring that phpMyAdmin is installed correctly, the next step is to open the Apache configuration file /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Here, nano is a command-line text editor, and sudo is used to run the command with root privileges.

At the end of the file, add the following line:

Include /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf

This line tells Apache to include the phpMyAdmin configuration file.

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Step 3: Restart Apache

After modifying the Apache configuration file, you need to restart Apache to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

The systemctl command is used to control the systemd system and service manager. Here, it’s used to restart the apache2 service.

Step 4: Verify the Symlink

The next step is to check if the symlink is correctly created. You can do this by running the following command:

ls -l /var/www/html

This command lists the contents of the /var/www/html directory in long format. Make sure it shows the symlink pointing to /usr/share/phpmyadmin.

Step 5: Recreate the Symlink

If the symlink is not correctly created, you can remove it using the command:

sudo rm /var/www/html/phpmyadmin

This command removes the phpmyadmin symlink from the /var/www/html directory.

Next, recreate the symlink with the correct target:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/phpmyadmin /var/www/html/phpmyadmin

This command creates a new symlink that points to /usr/share/phpmyadmin.

After recreating the symlink, restart Apache again:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 6: Access phpMyAdmin

Now, try accessing phpMyAdmin in your browser by visiting http://localhost/phpmyadmin or http://your_ip_address/phpmyadmin.

If you’re still facing issues, you can try additional troubleshooting steps.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

Check Apache Configuration

Check if the Apache configuration is correct by running the command:

sudo apache2ctl configtest

This command checks the syntax of the Apache configuration files. If there are any syntax errors, fix them accordingly.

Verify Apache Root Directory

Verify that the Apache root directory is set correctly. Open the Apache configuration file /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Make sure the DocumentRoot directive points to /var/www/html.

After modifying the configuration file, save the file and restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Conclusion

By following these steps, you should be able to fix the issue of phpMyAdmin not running on Ubuntu. If none of the steps work, you may want to consider seeking further help from the Ubuntu Community or the phpMyAdmin Support.