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I recently upgraded phpMyAdmin from 4.3.x to 4.7.3 and came upon the common error:

The phpMyAdmin configuration storage is not completely configured, some extended features have been deactivated. Find out why. Or alternately go to 'Operations' tab of any database to set it up there.

I've done much research on how to fix this but I have been unable to gain a complete understanding on what the fix does. I'm not an expert in db's and most stack answers/questions just provide the fix on how to get rid of the error and give a short simple explanation that "this fix will just enable some (most likely) useless features that you won't inherently care about" - like this popular question/answer (PMA Database ... not OK in phpMyAdmin upgrade).

The phpMyAdmin docs give explanation as to what enabling these features mean but don't give much meaning as to what they do & what their purpose is (https://docs.phpmyadmin.net/en/latest/setup.html#linked-tables).

Perhaps it is my limited understanding, but I was looking for more of a how/when/why to use these features type explanation.

Also please note that I'm not asking for a fix on removing the error.

Ale
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2 Answers2

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PhpMyAdmin is an application and sometimes applications need some kind of storage to fulfill all features they would like to offer.

Take for example the Bookmark feature, with which you can save executed queries for later use. If you had an desktop SQL client, this query would be saved on your hard disk. Since PhpMyAdmin runs on the server, and it has access to a database, the best idea here is to just use the database for storing such information.

Since PhpMyAdmin does not know which database name is free in your database server (and does not know if you need the features at all), it does not create the needed database and tables automatically, but awaits your approval for that – which is the notice you quoted.

Ulrich Thomas Gabor
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Those settings have to do with tools in phpMyAdmin that are designed to make your life easier. Bookmarks, for example, let you save old queries. Variables let you re-use values within queries. The settings, specifically, are there to allow the application a means of storing these preferences and histories, or to let phpMyAdmin that it should look for certain extra toolsets in the PHP environment (as with PDF generation).

If you're planning on using phpMyAdmin as a basic SQL interface, then none of that will really apply to you. On the other hand, if you are using phpMyAdmin on a regular basis for DBA-type configurations, then you should look into those features.

cwallenpoole
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