Friday, August 31, 2007

Cannot start phpmysqladmin from browser

I've installed Apache 2, PHP, MySQL, and PhpmyAdmin. When I try to run phpMyAdmin, I get the following error:

Cannot load mysql extension. Please check your PHP configuration. - Documentation

The problem is likely that you didn't install a PhpMyAdmin configuration file. Go to the server root, then the directory for PhpMyAdmin. Copy the default configuration file 'config.sample.php.inc' to 'config.php.inc'.

$ cp config.sample.php.inc config.php.inc

Add the following two lines after $i++

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'db-user-name';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'db-user-name-password';

And while there, enter a valid blowfish key. Any old sentence of text will do.

Access phpmyadmin from your browser again, and you should be all set

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Environment variables set in shell script not available after shell script

Problem
I struggled for hours trying to figure out why my shell script for setting my Java classpath wouldn't work. It was pretty straightforward too...

CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:/home/xxx/lib/itext.jar:.
export CLASSPATH

Then I ran it like this:

$ setclasspath.sh

And my classpath would be the same as it was before the script.

Solution
I needed to call it with the "." notation, as in:

$ . setclasspath.sh

This notation indicates that the settings should be applied to the current shell versus starting a new shell to execute the script, which was what I was getting by invoking by specifying the name.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Welcome to Rick Did It

I've often thought it would be a good idea to document how when I overcome sort some of hurdle utilizing brain power, or even just using online research. This blog will be that documentation. I hope to cover items ranging from home repair to social interactions. I'm sure some of the items will be off-the-wall, but my goal is to simply share my solutions.

I hope this site is valuable for you too.