Configuring PHP for MySQL Server Access

A tutorial example is provided on how to configure the PHP engine for MySQL server connection access. Setting, extension=php_mysql.dll, needs to be turned on in the configuration file php.ini.

To use PHP programs to access MySQL servers, of course you need to install the PHP engine on you computer first. If you need help on installing the PHP engine, please read my other tutorial book, "PHP Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples" at herongyang.com/PHP.

Then you need to turn on the php_mysqli extension by editing \local\php\php.ini with:

extension=php_mysqli.dll

You may also need to add \local\php\ext to the PATH system environment variable, because php_mysqli.dll is located in the \local\php\ext directory.

When I was ready to test the configuration, I ran this script:

<?php
#- MySqlTest.php
#  Copyright (c) 2005 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.
#
   $con = mysqli_connect('localhost','root','TopSecret');
   print "MySQL server info = ".mysqli_get_server_info($con)."\n";
   print "MySQL status = ".mysqli_stat($con)."\n";
   mysqli_close($con);
?>

I got this this error with MySQL Server 8.0:

herong> \local\php\php -version
PHP 7.3.0 (cli) (built: Dec  6 2018 01:54:19) (...)
Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v3.3.0-dev, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies

herong> \local\php\php MySqlTest.php
PHP Warning:  mysqli_connect(): The server requested authentication
method unknown to the client [caching_sha2_password]
in C:\herong\MySqlTest.php on line 5
...

This error is caused by the new authentication method, caching_sha2_password, used by MySQL Server 8.0. See next tutorial on how to resolve this error.

Note that I had no problem running the same PHP script on MySQL Server 5.7:

herong> \local\php\php -version
PHP 5.6.6 (cli) (built: Feb 18 2015 16:02:19)
Copyright (c) 1997-2015 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.6.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2015 Zend Technologies

herong> \local\php\php MySqlTest.php
MySQL server info = 5.7.10-log
MySQL status = Uptime: 46148  Threads: 1  Questions: 155
   Slow queries: 0  Opens: 128  Flush tables: 1
   Open tables: 117  Queries per second avg: 0.003

Note that the old MySQL extension php_mysql.dll is no longer supported.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of SQL

 MySQL Introduction and Installation

 Introduction of MySQL Programs

PHP Programs and MySQL Server

Configuring PHP for MySQL Server Access

 MySQL Authentication Method "caching_sha2_password"

 mysqli_connect() and Other MySQL Functions

 MySqlLoop.php - MySQL Functions Test

 Perl Programs and MySQL Servers

 Java Programs and MySQL Servers

 Datatypes and Data Literals

 Operations and Expressions

 Character Strings and Bit Strings

 Commonly Used Functions

 Table Column Types for Different Types of Values

 Using DDL to Create Tables and Indexes

 Using DML to Insert, Update and Delete Records

 Using SELECT to Query Database

 Window Functions for Statistical Analysis

 Use Index for Better Performance

 Transaction Management and Isolation Levels

 Locks Used in MySQL

 Defining and Calling Stored Procedures

 Variables, Loops and Cursors Used in Stored Procedures

 System, User-Defined and Stored Procedure Variables

 MySQL Server Administration

 Storage Engines in MySQL Server

 InnoDB Storage Engine - Primary and Secondary Indexes

 Performance Tuning and Optimization

 Bulk Changes on Large Tables

 MySQL Server on macOS

 Installing MySQL Server on Linux

 Connection, Performance and Second Instance on Linux

 Archived Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB