Enable SSL for Secure phpMyAdmin Access in VestaCP

By default, phpMyAdmin in VestaCP is accessible via HTTP, which is not secure. To prevent unauthorized access and data interception, it is important to enable SSL (HTTPS) for phpMyAdmin.

For phpMyAdmin in general (install, security, day-to-day use), see phpMyAdmin — Installation, Configuration & Usage. For the broader VestaCP context, see VestaCP Hosting — Everything You Need to Know and How to Install VestaCP on a VPS/Server.

Before forcing SSL for phpMyAdmin, ensure that your domain has an SSL certificate installed. You can check if SSL is already enabled by running:

sudo ls /usr/local/vesta/ssl

If you see .crt and .key files, SSL is installed.

1. Open the configuration file for phpMyAdmin:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/phpmyadmin.conf

2. Modify the configuration to force HTTPS:
   • Find the HTTP (port 80) block and update it to redirect to HTTPS:

server {

    listen 80;

    server_name your-domain.com;

    return 301 https://your-domain.com$request_uri;

}

• Ensure your HTTPS (port 443) block contains the correct SSL paths:

server {

    listen 443 ssl;

    server_name your-domain.com;



    ssl_certificate /usr/local/vesta/ssl/certificate.crt;

    ssl_certificate_key /usr/local/vesta/ssl/certificate.key;



    location /phpmyadmin {

        alias /usr/share/phpMyAdmin;

        index index.php;

        include /etc/nginx/snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;

    }

}

3. Save and Exit (Press Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter).

After modifying the configuration, restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

If your domain does not have SSL enabled, you can install a free Let's Encrypt SSL for phpMyAdmin:

1. Install Let's Encrypt:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

2. Generate SSL for phpMyAdmin subdomain:

sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

3. Verify SSL Installation:

sudo ls /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/

4. Update Nginx Config with Let's Encrypt SSL:

ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem;

ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/privkey.pem;

5. Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx