How to Install and Secure PhpMyAdmin on Fedora Step by Step

PhpMyAdmin is one of the most trusted and practical tools for managing MySQL databases through a simple web interface. It allows you to handle your databases visually instead of typing commands in the terminal. In this guide you will learn step by step how to install and secure PhpMyAdmin on Fedora and how to make your server environment ready for safe and efficient database management.

What is PhpMyAdmin?

PhpMyAdmin is an open source management tool written in PHP that helps users control MySQL and MariaDB databases from the browser. It removes the need for command line interaction and lets you do everything with a clean and simple interface. You can create new databases, edit tables, run SQL queries or manage users easily. It supports more than seventy languages ​​and works well with both left to right and right to left scripts. Because of this it has become a global solution for developers and system administrators.

PhpMyAdmin Features

Simple and clean web interface

Full support for MySQL and MariaDB databases

User management and access control

Creating and editing tables

Database backup in SQL XML CSV and PDF formats

Import and export in compressed formats such as ZIP and GZIP

Visual design of database structure as PDF diagrams

Support for multiple database servers

Prerequisites

Before starting the installation make sure your server meets these requirements
A Linux VPS with Fedora operating system
Apache HTTP Server
PHP installed
MySQL or MariaDB installed and running

Step 1 Install Apache and PHP

To install Apache and PHP along with the required extensions, open the terminal and enter

sudo dnf -y install httpd php php-cli php-gettext php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-mysqlnd php-pear php-curl php-gd php-xml php-bcmath php-zip

After the installation, edit the Apache configuration file

sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Add the following lines

ServerAdmin [email protected]
ServerName example.com
ServerTokens Prod

Then start and enable Apache service

sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

Step 2 Configure Firewall and PHP

Enable access to HTTP and HTTPS with these commands

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service={http,https} --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Check your PHP version

php -v

And check the installed PHP modules

php -m

Set your timezone in the PHP configuration file

sudo vim /etc/php.ini

Find this line and change it to your correct timezone

date.timezone = America/New_York

Step 3 Install PhpMyAdmin on Fedora

Run this command to install PhpMyAdmin

sudo dnf -y install phpMyAdmin

After installation verify the version

rpm -qi phpMyAdmin

Now open the PhpMyAdmin configuration file

sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf

If you want to limit access to specific IP addresses make the changes here then restart Apache

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Step 4 Access PhpMyAdmin

Open your browser and enter

http://localhost/phpMyAdmin

If you are connecting from another system, replace localhost with your server IP address.

Log in with your database username and password to start working with PhpMyAdmin.

Step 5 Change Authentication Plugin for MySQL

If you need to change the MySQL authentication plugin, enter the MySQL command line

mysql -u root -p

Then update the plugin configuration according to your requirements. This step helps when PhpMyAdmin has connection issues with MySQL.

Step 6 Secure PhpMyAdmin on Fedora

To protect PhpMyAdmin from unauthorized access follow these instructions.

First open the configuration file

sudo vim /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf

Find the default alias section and replace it with a custom name

From

Alias ​​/phpMyAdmin /usr/share/phpMyAdmin

To

Alias ​​/secureadmin /usr/share/phpMyAdmin

Restart Apache to apply the change

sudo systemctl restart httpd

You can also restrict access by IP inside the same file so that only trusted systems can open PhpMyAdmin. Always use HTTPS to keep your connection secure and prevent password leaks.

Troubleshooting tips!!!

If PhpMyAdmin does not load check if Apache and PHP services are active and restart them if needed

sudo systemctl restart httpd php-fpm

If you get an access denied error, verify your MySQL user credentials and permissions.

If you face a forbidden error check the Apache configuration and make sure access to the PhpMyAdmin directory is allowed.

Conclusion

In this tutorial you learned how to install and secure PhpMyAdmin on Fedora and how to protect it from unauthorized access. With the right setup PhpMyAdmin becomes a reliable tool for managing databases without command line work!!! You can connect multiple servers to one PhpMyAdmin and manage them all in one place. This method saves time and gives you full control over your MySQL environment.