At the First Click
Charly's Column – Adminer
Sys admin columnist Charly freely admits that he doesn't like SQL and phpMyAdmin any more than he does COBOL. Instead, meet his new best friend; the slim, attractive database tool known as Adminer.
When I was young and AIX 4 was in its infancy, we had a full-time database administrator at the data center who could not only recite the whole SQL command set forwards, but could also type it backwards. Behind his back, the trainees called him GRANT
[1] father. Fortunately, I didn't inherit his job, because on my popularity scale, SQL ranks at about the same level as COBOL – I learned both once, and I try hard not to use either.
But unlike Cobol, SQL often sticks to the sole of my shoe like a piece of old chewing gum. So, I was looking for a tool that makes the most common SQL operations easier for me and isn't called phpMyAdmin, because I don't like that much either. I hit the bullseye with the tool I found: Adminder [2]! To my mind, this tool gets just about everything right.
First, there is the size. The variant with more than 40 languages gets by with about 470KB. If I limit myself to German or English for the program interface, this drops to hardly more than 300KB. The next surprise: I didn't have to unpack anything, because Adminer consists of a single PHP file. I copied it to a management server on the internal LAN. Adminer users need to go through LDAP authentication just once. Its maker, Jakub Vrána, does not recommend installing the tool directly on the database server.
Minor Interventions
The selection of databases that Adminer understands should be sufficient for most admins: MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQlite, MS SQL, Oracle, Firebird, SimpleDB, Elasticsearch, and MongoDB. Plugins are available from third-party sources, for example for managing Moodle or WordPress databases.
However, I don't need anything like that. I'm usually just doing annoying everyday repairs. For example, when a field in a database is limited to 128 characters, but I want to accommodate 200 characters. Or another common task: I need to quickly add another field to a table. This means that I am only using two percent of Adminer's feature set. But it is simply a pleasure to work with Adminer, and the pleasantly simple design maximizes the fun (Figure 1).
I could even create functions and stored procedures with Adminer – but I prefer to take a more hands-off approach than that. When I'm faced with difficult tasks, I prefer to ask one of the trainees from back in the day, the one they now call GRANT
father behind his back.
Infos
- SQL-GRANT-Kommando: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/grant.html
- Adminer: https://www.adminer.org
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.