phpMyAdmin Single Sign-On with LiveConfig^®

Log in to phpMyAdmin directly from LiveConfig^® Control Panel without entering the database credentials.

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Background

To connect with phpMyAdmin to a MySQL server, usually the database credentials are required. This script (lc-sso.php) allows logging in to phpMyAdmin directly from LiveConfig without entering the database credentials. To avoid unsafe submission through the users' browser, this script transmits them server-side. So the user also can't see the currently configured database password.

Important: LiveConfig never saves passwords that aren't required any more. When creating a new MySQL database or changing its password, LiveConfig deletes this password immediately after execution. If single sign-on is enabled in LiveConfig, these passwords remain in the LiveConfig database (encrypted, of course). Because of this, if single sign-on is enabled for an existing MySQL database its password must be entered (or a new password must be set).

Prerequisites

• LiveConfig v2.5.0 (or later)
• phpMyAdmin (already installed), with PHP cURL extension

Installation

1. copy the file lc-sso.php into the root directory of your phpMyAdmin installation
2. edit the file config.inc.php and add a new server:

$i++;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'signon';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'SingleSignOn';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonSession'] = 'SignonSession';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['SignonURL'] = 'index.php';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['LogoutURL'] = 'lc-sso.php?logout';

Remember the number (value of $i) of this new server entry!

3. edit the file lc-sso.php and set PMA_SIGNON_INDEX to the server id ($i) of the previously added entry
4. if you have changed the SignonSession name in config.inc.php, also adjust PMA_SIGNON_SESSIONNAME accordingly
5. if you're running LiveConfig with a SSL certificate of a trusted CA, you should set PMA_DISABLE_SSL_PEER_VALIDATION to FALSE
6. finally log in as admin to LiveConfig, go to Servers -> Server Management -> Databases. Edit the MySQL options and enable the Single Sign-On checkbox there. A link to your phpMyAdmin installation must also be configured of course.

Normal LiveConfig users then may enable single sign-on for new and existing databases at Hosting -> Databases. With existing databases, the password must be provided. The link to phpMyAdmin contains a small key icon to symbolize that SSO is enabled.