How to Deploy phpMyAdmin Using CloudRay

CloudRay is a powerful automation platform that simplifies the process of managing infrastructure and deploying applications. With CloudRay, you can automate complex tasks like installing and securing phpMyAdmin, a widely-used web interface for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases.

In this guide, you will learn how to automate the setting up, configurations, and deployment of phpMyAdmin using CloudRay. By the end, you will have a fully functional and protected phpMyAdmin instance that you can manage effortlessly through CloudRay.

Contents

• Prerequisites
• Assumptions
• Create the Automation Script
  • Setup MySQL Script
  • Install phpMyAdmin Script
  • Secure phpMyAdmin Script
• Create a Variable Group
• Running the Script with CloudRay
• Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

• A CloudRay account at https://app.cloudray.io/
• A cloud server accessible via SSH: If you don’t already have a cloud server, you can get one from popular providers like AWS, DigitalOcean, and Google Cloud. Ensure the server has at least 4GB of RAM, and a minimum of 20GB SSD
• SSH credentials: Ensure you have access to the necessary SSH keys or login credentials to access your server. If you don’t have an SSH key set up, follow this guide to create one and add it to CloudRay
• The servers are added to CloudRay: Before proceeding, make sure your server is connected to CloudRay. If you haven’t done this yet, follow this guide to add and manage your server

Assumptions

• This guide assumes you’re using Rocky Linux 9 as your server’s operating system. If you’re using a different version or a different distribution, adjust the commands accordingly

Create the Automation Script

To automate the installation of Nagios, you’ll need three Bash scripts:

1. Setup MySQL Script: Installs and configures MySQL server, creates a database, and sets up a user with appropriate privileges
2. Install phpMyAdmin Script: Downloads, installs, and configures phpMyAdmin to provide a web-based interface for managing MySQL databases
3. Secure phpMyAdmin Script: Implements security measures such as restricting access, setting up authentication, and configuring firewalls to protect the phpMyAdmin instance

Let’s begin with the setting up of MySQL

Setup MySQL Script

To create the Setup MySQL Script, you need to follow these steps:

1. Go to Scripts in your CloudRay project
2. Click New Script
3. Name: Setup MySQL Script. You can give it any name of your choice
4. Copy this code:

#!/bin/bash

# Exit on error
set -e

# Update system and install MySQL server
sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install mysql-server -y

# Start and enable MySQL service
sudo systemctl start mysqld
sudo systemctl enable mysqld

# Create MySQL database and user
sudo mysql <<EOF
CREATE DATABASE {{db_name}};
CREATE USER '{{db_user}}'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '{{db_password}}';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_company.* TO '{{db_user}}'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EOF

echo "✅ MySQL server setup completed successfully!"

Here is a breakdown of what each command in the Setup MySQL Script does:

• Updates the system packages to the latest versions
• Installs the MySQL server package
• tarts MySQL immediately and ensures it starts on boot
• Creates a Database and a user
• Grants all privileges on the database to the new user
• Flushes privileges to apply the changes

Install phpMyAdmin Script

Next, you need to create the installation script for phpMyAdmin. To do so, follow similar steps as the above:

1. Go to Scripts > New Script
2. Name: Install phpMyAdmin Script
3. Add code:

#!/bin/bash

# Exit on error
set -e

# Install phpMyAdmin and required PHP extensions
sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install phpmyadmin -y
sudo dnf install php-mysqlnd php-mbstring php-json php-xml php-curl php-zip php-common -y

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart httpd

# Install nano (for manual editing if needed)
sudo dnf install nano -y

# Configure phpMyAdmin access
sudo sed -i 's/Require local/Require all granted/' /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf

# Restart Apache to apply changes
sudo systemctl restart httpd

# Enable external MySQL connections via SELinux
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

# Install and configure firewall
sudo dnf install firewalld -y
sudo systemctl start firewalld
sudo systemctl enable firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

echo "✅ phpMyAdmin installation and configuration completed successfully!"

This is what the Install phpMyAdmin Script does:

• Enables access to extra packages (including phpMyAdmin) and necessary PHP extensions for phpMyAdmin
• Ensures the webserver is running and reloads configurations
• Access configuration to allow external access (not just local)
• Allows Apache to connect to the MySQL database
• Opens HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) ports for external access

Secure phpMyAdmin Script

To secure your phpMyAdmin instance, follow these steps:

1. Go to Scripts in your CloudRay project
2. Click New Script
3. Name: Secure phpMyAdmin Script. You can give it any name of your choice
4. Copy this code:

#!/bin/bash

# Exit on error
set -e

# Install HTTP authentication tools
sudo dnf install httpd-tools -y

# Create htpasswd file
sudo htpasswd -bc /etc/httpd/.htpasswd {{auth_user}} '{{auth_password}}'

# Allow override for phpMyAdmin in Apache
sudo sed -i '/<Directory \/usr\/share\/phpMyAdmin\/>/,/<\/Directory>/ s/Require all granted/&\n    AllowOverride All/' /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf

# Create .htaccess for phpMyAdmin security
sudo bash -c 'cat <<EOF > /usr/share/phpMyAdmin/.htaccess
AuthType Basic
AuthName "Restricted Access to phpMyAdmin"
AuthUserFile /etc/httpd/.htpasswd
Require valid-user
EOF'

# Restart Apache to apply changes
sudo systemctl restart httpd

# Confirm Apache is running
sudo systemctl status httpd

echo "✅ phpMyAdmin secured successfully!"

Here is a breakdown of what each command in the Secure phpMyAdmin Script does:

• Installs the htpasswd command for basic authentication
• Creates a new password file (/etc/httpd/.htpasswd)
• Enables user authentication via .htaccess
• Sets up basic authentication using the credentials stored in /etc/httpd/.htpasswd
• Restarts Apache and checks its status

Create a Variable Group

Now, before running the scripts, you need to define values for the placeholders {{db_name}}, {{db_user}}, {{db_password}}, {{auth_user}}, and {{auth_password}} used in the scrips. CloudRay processes all scripts as Liquid templates.

This allows you to use variables dynamically across different servers.

To ensure that these values are automatically substituted when the script runs, follow these steps to create a variable Group:

1. Navigate to Variable Groups: In your CloudRay project, go to “Scripts” in the top menu and click on “Variable Groups”.
2. Create a new Variable Group: Click on “Variable Group”.
3. Add the following variables:

• db_name: This is the name of the database
• db_user: The name of the user
• db_password: The password of the for the database user
• auth_user: The username of your basic authentication for phpMyAdmin
• auth_password: The password of your basic authentication for phpMyAdmin

Since the variables are setup, proceed to run the scripts with CloudRay.

Running the Script with CloudRay

Now that everything is setup, you can use CloudRay to automate deploying and securing phpMyAdmin.

You can choose to run the scripts individually or execute them all at once using CloudRay’s Script Playlists. Since there are multiple scripts, using CloudRay playlists will help automate the execution sequence and save time.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Navigate to “Script Playlists”: Click on the Scripts tab in the CloudRay interface

2. Click “Add Script Playlist”: This initiates the creation of a new playlist
3. Provide a Name: Give your playlist a unique name (For example “Automate Deployment and Management of phpMyAdmin”)
4. Add Scripts in Order: Select and add the scripts sequentially

5. Save the Playlist: Click “create playlist” to store your new playlist.

Once your script playlist is created, proceed with execution:

1. Navigate to Runlogs: In your CloudRay project, go to the Runlogs section in the top menu.
2. Create a New Runlog: Click on New Runlog.
3. Configure the Runlog: Provide the necessary details:

• Server: Select the server where Nagios will be installed
• Script Playlist: Choose the playlist you created (For example “Automate Deployment and Management of phpMyAdmin”)
• Variable Group: Select the variable group you set up earlier

4. Execute the Script: Click on Run Now to start the execution

Your phpMyAdmin is now seamlessly deployed and managed with CloudRay. That’s it! Happy deploying!. You can access it by visiting http://<nagios-server-ip>/phpmyadmin

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during deployment, consider the following:

• phpMyAdmin Web Interface Not Loading: Ensure Apache is running with sudo systemctl status httpd and restart it using sudo systemctl restart httpd. Also, verify that the firewall allows HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443) traffic.
• MySQL Service Not Starting: Check the MySQL service status with sudo systemctl status mysqld and restart it using sudo systemctl restart mysqld. Ensure the service is enabled to start on boot with sudo systemctl enable mysqld
• Authentication Issues: If you cannot log in to phpMyAdmin, verify the .htaccess file in /usr/share/phpMyAdmin/ is correctly configured and that the /etc/httpd/.htpasswd file contains the correct credentials

If the issue persists, consult the phpMyAdmin Documentation for further assistance.