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How to increase the timeout limit of a login session in phpMyAdmin

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Marc Vidal
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Plesk for Windows Plesk for Linux kb: how-to ABT: Group A

Applicable to:

  • Plesk for Linux
  • Plesk for Windows

Question

How to increase or modify the timeout limit of a login session in phpMyAdmin?

Answer

  • Plesk for Linux:

For Plesk Obsidian 18.0.30 and above

  1. Connect to the server via SSH

  2. Go to the file path /usr/local/psa/phpMyAdmin/:

    # cd /usr/local/psa/phpMyAdmin/

  3. Create the file config.inc.php if it doesn't exist copying the template file libraries/config.default.php:

    # if [ ! -f config.inc.php ]; then cp -a {libraries/config.default.php,config.inc.php}; fi

  4. Edit the file config.inc.php with a text editor: 

    # vi config.inc.php

  5. Change the value of the parameter LoginCookieValidity:

    CONFIG_TEXT: $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'] = 1800;

  6. Save the changes and close the file

For Plesk Onyx and Plesk Obsidian below 18.0.30

  1. Connect to the server via SSH

  2. Go to the file path /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpMyAdmin/:

    # cd /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpMyAdmin/

  3. Create the file config.inc.php if it doesn't exist copying the template file libraries/config.default.php:

    # if [ ! -f config.inc.php ]; then cp -a {libraries/config.default.php,config.inc.php}; fi

  4. Edit the file config.inc.php with a text editor: 

    # vi config.inc.php

  5. Change the value of the parameter LoginCookieValidity:

    CONFIG_TEXT: $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'] = 1800;

  6. Save the changes and close the file

 

  • Plesk for Windows:

For Plesk Obsidian 18.0.30 and above

  1. Connect to the server via RDP

  2. Go to the following folder path: %plesk_dir%phpmyadmin\

  3. Create or edit the file config.inc.php with a text editor

  4. Add or change the value of the parameter LoginCookieValidity and save the changes:

    CONFIG_TEXT: <?php
    declare(strict_types=1);
    // ...
    $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'] = 1800;

  5. Edit the Plesk PHP.ini file %plesk_dir%admin\conf\php.ini with a text editor

  6. Add or edit the parameter session.gc_maxlifetime in the [Session] section with the same value configured in LoginCookieValidity and save the changes:

    CONFIG_TEXT: ...
    [Session]
    session.gc_maxlifetime = 1800
    ...

  7. Log out from phpMyAdmin and Plesk to start a new PHP session

For Plesk Onyx and Plesk Obsidian below 18.0.30

  1. Connect to the server via RDP

  2. Go to the following folder path: %plesk_dir%admin\htdocs\domains\databases\phpMyAdmin\

  3. Create or edit the file config.inc.php with a text editor

  4. Add or change the value of the parameter LoginCookieValidity and save the changes:

    CONFIG_TEXT: <?php
    declare(strict_types=1);
    // ...
    $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'] = 1800;

  5. Edit the Plesk PHP.ini file %plesk_dir%admin\conf\php.ini with a text editor

  6. Add or edit the parameter session.gc_maxlifetime in the [Session] section with the same value configured in LoginCookieValidity and save the changes:

    CONFIG_TEXT: ...
    [Session]
    session.gc_maxlifetime = 1800
    ...

  7. Log out from phpMyAdmin and Plesk to start a new PHP session

Comments

13 comments

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  • Avatar
    Jennifer Arsenault

    Apparently, this setting was removed from the phpMyAdmin interface in version 4.8.0 as per GitHub issue #15001. Any chance this will be added to the Plesk GUI at some point?

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  • Avatar
    Jennifer Arsenault

    There is a large ASCII image at the top of config.default.php that says: NO!! DO NOT EDIT!!

    It says to edit config.inc.php instead. I found the following info in the phpMyAdmin docs.

    Quote from Configuration Section

    "All configurable data is placed in config.inc.php in phpMyAdmin’s toplevel directory. If this file does not exist, please refer to the Installation section to create one. This file only needs to contain the parameters you want to change from their corresponding default value in libraries/config.default.php (this file is not intended for changes)."

    Quote from Installation Section

    "To manually create the file, simply use your text editor to create the file config.inc.php (you can copy config.sample.inc.php to get a minimal configuration file) in the main (top-level) phpMyAdmin directory (the one that contains index.php). phpMyAdmin first loads libraries/config.default.php and then overrides those values with anything found in config.inc.php. If the default value is okay for a particular setting, there is no need to include it in config.inc.php."

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  • Avatar
    Alisa Kasyanova

    @Jennifer Arsenault

    You are right, the mentioned setting was removed from the phpMyAdmin interface. Since it is a phpMyAdmin setting, it will not be added to Plesk interface.

    As for the config.inc.php, I have edited the article accordingly. Thank you for noticing!

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  • Avatar
    Peter VARGA

    @...

    Hi, I followed all of the described steps, restarted the server, but unfortunately I get always the message in PMA that there was an inactivity for 1440 seconds and therefore I have to log in again. What am I doing wrong?

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  • Avatar
    Alisa Kasyanova

    @Peter VARGA
    Please also try to increase the session.gc_maxlifetime PHP value as well. Open Tools & Settings > PHP settings > OS PHP version > PHP.ini > find the session.gc_maxlifetime and increase its value so it is equal or higher than LoginCookieValidity.

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  • Avatar
    Peter VARGA

    @...

    Nothing helps, the hoster company and I have tried everything.

    It simple doesn't work in the Plesk environment.

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  • Avatar
    Ivan Postnikov

    Hello Peter VARGA

    In that case, additional investigation is required. You may submit a support request to Plesk support or contact phpMyAdmin community here.

    In general, phpMyAdmin is installed by Plesk as is, without finetuning or customizations. 

     

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  • Avatar
    Peter VARGA

    @...

    Ivan Postnikov

     

    Unfortunately, all the steps described above don't work at all. Here is my summary and how I solved:

    • PMA is ignoring totally /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpMyAdmin/libraries/config.inc.php - I have to do the changes in /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpMyAdmin/libraries/config.default.php - of course, I don't know what happens the next time the system has been updated.
    • Change in this file this value: $cfg['LoginCookieValidity'] = 1440;
    • Enable phpinfo() in PMA in the same file with $cfg['ShowPhpInfo'] = true; so you know which php.ini is used.
    • Change in this php.ini also session.gc_maxlifetime and NOT in the Plesk panel. Changing it in the Plesk panel does NOT work.
    • Restart the server.
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  • Avatar
    Ivan Postnikov

    Hello Peter VARGA

    Thank you for the message and for sharing the steps which helped you.

    Currently, it's unclear why the solution form the article didn't help. In case our technical support will meet a similar issue and investigate the case on the affected server, the article will be updated.

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  • Avatar
    Jennifer Arsenault

    It would seem the article is incorrect. If you notice in my previous comment where I quote phpMyAdmin docs, the config.inc.php file must be created in the main (top-level) phpMyAdmin directory (the one that contains index.php) and NOT in the libraries directory. It also suggests copying a minimal file from config.sample.inc.php rather than duplicating all the default settings.

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  • Avatar
    Anton Maslov

    Jennifer Arsenault Hi, that you for bringing our attention to this. We updated article.

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  • Avatar
    Peter VARGA

    Thank you Jennifer, yes, this makes now sense. As I noted in the post above, the changes were lost with each update.

    There is still this issue: The session.gc_maxlifetime settings, as described by Alisa is also not correct. I have to change them directly in /usr/local/psa/admin/conf/php.ini but each time Plesk install updates, the settings are gone.

    I ask the Plesk developers kindly to provide here a solution in which php.ini file session.gc_maxlifetime has to be set permanently, and also, how to restart Apache so the changes become active.

    Thank you

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  • Avatar
    Anton Maslov

    Hello Peter VARGA. PhpMyAdmin session should be linked to Plesk session, means to increase its lifetime instead of gc_maxlifetime use option Tools & Settings > Active Plesk Sessions > Settings to increase its lifetime.

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