phpMyAdmin needs a secret passphrase (blowfish_secret)

Configuring the blowfish_secret secret passphrase with phpMyAdmin.

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By. Jacob

Edited: 2022-08-02 08:10

The configuration file now needs a secret passphrase (blowfish_secret)

This message is common after having installed phpMyAdmin; it means that you need to edit the configuration file and add a secret passphrase that will be unique to your installation. The string is used for cookie authentication.

The passphrase can basically be anything, but at least 32 characters is recommended.

If you have not done so already, go to your phpMyAdmin installation directory, there you should find a file called config.sample.inc.php; you may rename that to config.inc.php and then make sure the following is included:

$cfg['blow_secret'] = 'your_passphrase_here';

Just replace "your_passphrase_here" with whatever you want. It is recommended that the passphrase is at least 32 characters long, containing special characters, letters and numbers. You do not need to remember the passphrase, since it is only used by phpMyAdmin internally.

If the passphrase is too short, you might get a message like:

The secret passphrase in configuration (blowfish_secret) is too short.