How to Install and Use Adminer on Ubuntu

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to install and use Adminer on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx.

Introduction

Adminer is a powerful, lightweight, and easy-to-use database management tool that serves as an excellent alternative to phpMyAdmin. Unlike phpMyAdmin, which requires multiple files and dependencies, Adminer is just a single PHP file that you can easily deploy on any web server. It supports multiple database management systems, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MariaDB.

If you are looking for a simple, fast, and secure way to manage your databases without the overhead of phpMyAdmin, Adminer is a great choice.

Prerequisites

• A Ubuntu 24.04 installed dedicated server or KVM VPS.
• A root user or normal user with administrative privileges.
• A domain name point A record to server's IP

How to Install and Use Adminer on Ubuntu

Step 1: Install Nginx (If Not Installed)

Execute following command to install Nginx:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Enable and Start Nginx

sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

To check if Nginx is running:

sudo systemctl status nginx

You should see "active (running)".

Step 2: Configure firewall

We need allow HTTP and HTTPS port in the firewall. 

ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp

Step 3: Install PHP and Required Extensions

Since Adminer is a PHP-based application, we need to install PHP along with some necessary extensions. Run the following command:

sudo apt install php-fpm php-cli php-mysql -y

Once installed, confirm that PHP is working:

php -v

You should see output showing the installed PHP version.

Step 4: Install and Configure Adminer

Ubuntu provides an Adminer package in its official repositories, making installation very simple:

sudo apt install adminer -y

Step 5: Configure Nginx for Adminer

Now, let’s create an Nginx configuration file for Adminer.

Open a new file in Nginx’s sites-available directory:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/adminer

Add the following Nginx configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name adminer.yourdomain.com;

    root /usr/share/adminer/adminer;
    index index.php index.html index.htm;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    location /adminer/ {
        root /usr/share/adminer;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }

    location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|css|js|ico|svg|woff|woff2|ttf|otf|eot|mp4|avi|mov)$ {
        expires max;
        log_not_found off;
        access_log off;
        root /usr/share/adminer;
    }

    error_log /var/log/nginx/adminer_error.log;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/adminer_access.log;

}

📌 Make sure to replace adminer.yourdomain.com with your actual domain.

Enable the Nginx Site and Restart Nginx

Create a symbolic link to enable the new configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/adminer /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test the Nginx configuration for errors:

sudo nginx -t

If there are no errors, you’ll see: "syntax is OK"

Restart Nginx to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 6: Secure Adminer with an SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

Install Certbot and Let’s Encrypt SSL

Let’s Encrypt provides free SSL certificates that automatically renew.

Install Certbot and the Nginx plugin:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Generate an SSL certificate for your domain:

sudo certbot --nginx -d adminer.yourdomain.com

After installation, Certbot will automatically configure your Nginx file to use HTTPS.

Step 7: Log in to Adminer and Manage Your Databases

Open your web browser and go to:

https://adminer.yourdomain.com

You'll see a login screen with the following fields:

• System: Select MySQL or MariaDB.
• Server: Use localhost (or your database server IP).
• Username: root (or any other database user).
• Password: Your MySQL user password.
• Database: Leave blank to see a list of databases.

Click Login.

Once inside, you can:

• Create databases
• Manage tables
• Run SQL queries
• Import/export data

Adminer provides a simple and clean interface to handle all database operations.

Step 8: Secure Adminer (Optional but Recommended)

Since Adminer is a database management tool, you should restrict access only to authorized users.

Option 1: Restrict Access by IP Address

Edit the Nginx configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/adminer

Add this inside the location / block:

allow YOUR_IP_ADDRESS;
deny all;

Replace YOUR_IP_ADDRESS with your actual public IP.

Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Option 2: Protect with a Password

Install Apache’s htpasswd tool:

sudo apt install apache2-utils -y

Create a password file:

sudo htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd adminer_user

Enter a strong password when prompted.

Edit the Nginx configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/adminer

Add this inside the location / block:

auth_basic "Restricted Access";
auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;

Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now, when you access Adminer, it will prompt you for a username and password before you can log in.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we've learnt how to install and use Adminer on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx.

🎉 Congratulations! You have successfully:
✅ Set up Adminer with a custom domain name (adminer.yourdomain.com)
✅ Replaced Apache with Nginx for better performance
✅ Installed a free SSL certificate for secure HTTPS access
✅ Implemented security measures like IP restriction or password protection

Now you have a fully secure and easily accessible database management tool running on your domain. 🚀

If you need any further customizations, let me know! 😊