Using phpMyAdmin to Manage MySQL/MariaDB Databases

phpMyAdmin is a browser-based interface for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases — useful for importing/exporting data, running queries, and managing users without the command line.

Install phpMyAdmin (Ubuntu/Debian)

apt install phpmyadmin -y

During installation, select your web server (Apache or Nginx) and configure the database with dbconfig-common.

Manual Installation (Nginx)

cd /var/www
wget https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.tar.gz
tar -xzf phpMyAdmin-latest-all-languages.tar.gz
mv phpMyAdmin-*-all-languages phpmyadmin
chown -R www-data:www-data phpmyadmin

Create an Nginx location block or virtual host pointing to /var/www/phpmyadmin.

Security: Restrict Access by IP

Add this to your Nginx config for the phpMyAdmin location:

location /phpmyadmin {
    allow 203.0.113.100;   # Your IP only
    deny all;
    root /var/www;
}

Key Features

• Create, browse, edit, and delete databases and tables
• Run SQL queries in a browser-based editor
• Import and export databases as SQL, CSV, or other formats
• Manage database users and privileges
• View and modify table structure

Security Recommendations

• Never expose phpMyAdmin on a public URL without IP restrictions or HTTP basic auth
• Use a non-obvious URL path (e.g., /dbadmin-a7x2/ instead of /phpmyadmin/)
• Keep phpMyAdmin updated
• Use a dedicated MySQL user with limited privileges rather than root