Can't start phpMyAdmin. Keep getting the #2002 socket error - mysql

Question

I've been trying to set mysql and phpMyAdmin for the last 12 hours, without any success. And yes, after hours and hours of Google-ing I know that is a common problem and I've read similar queries on stackoverflow but still can't come with the solution.....
I've tried everything - from changing the
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port']
in the config.inc.php file to 3306, 127.0.0.1....
typing the socket path in the config.inc.php file - both tmp/mysql.php and the /var/mysql/mysql.sock.
I've tried changing the socket path in the my.cnf file and the php.ini....but I keep getting the same error:
#2002 - No such file or directory
The server is not responding (or the local server's socket is not correctly configured).
I'm using MySQL (5.1.65), PhpMyAdmin (3.5.2.2) and PHP (5.3.8).

Answer 1

I have recently encountered this problem on Mac OS Sierra too. Apache server is working but mysql is not. After searching for a solution, reading lots of posts I found this solution. And it worked!
The solution is to navigate to the mysql folder, in my case its,
/Applications/MAMP/db/mysql56/
and remove all the files except folders. Then restart MAMP again.

Answer 2

Quit MAMP
Open the terminal
Type: killall -9 mysqld Restart MAMP

Answer 3

The problem I had with this was because PHP was trying to connect via a UNIX socket instead of TCP. This is similar to this error: Error when connecting to MySQL using PHP/PDO
First, make sure you have a my.cnf config for mysql then add your default socket location:
[mysqld_safe] socket = /tmp/mysql.sock
Next in your php.ini, let PHP know where it is:
mysql.default_socket = /tmp/mysql.sock

Answer 4

Since you did not mention MAMP, I am assuming you are not using it so this is for a manual install but it will likely also work for MAMP.
In my experience, this is caused by the socket variable of your mysql. By default, MySQL uses /tmp/mysql.sock.
You can get the MySQL socket variable by logging into your MySQL and doing
show variables like '%socket%'
that will show you the location of the socket file.
Now, create a php phpinfo() file and look for mysql.default_socket under the mysql or mysqli section. Mine was /var/mysql/mysql.sock. This shows that PHP is looking for the file in a different location than mysql is using.
Assuming you have same values, open new terminal and enter
cd /var
mkdir mysql
cd mysql
ln -s /tmp/mysql.sock mysql.sock
this will create a link to the mysql socket file inside the location PHP is checking from.
PHPMyAdmin should work now.

Answer 5

Check the config file:
/* $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'localhost'; */
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = '127.0.0.1';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['compress'] = false;
Restart MySQL:
OSx : sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server restart
Linux: sudo service mysql start
(Old linux: sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start)

Answer 6

Had this problem on Windows 7 Ultimate, AppServ.
Just reload SQL and Apache (but you need to reload both of them, reloading only Apache didn't worked).
PHPMyAdmin 4.6.6
Server: Apache/2.4.25 (Win32) OpenSSL/1.0.2j PHP/5.6.30
Server version: 5.7.17-log - MySQL Community Server (GPL)
PHP: 5.6.30

Answer 7

If you are using homebrew restart mariadb. I also had the same issue and after stopping and starting mariadb it started working again.
brew services restart mariadb

Answer 8

Am using MAMP on a macbook pro running High Sierra, and
in my case, I tried all the above but it still did not work for me so I did the following :
Looking for where you installed your MAMP and more specifically, look for the "config.inc.php" file located in "/Applications/MAMP/bin/phpMyAdmin".
Backup (ie. on a mac, right click and duplicate) the "config.inc.php" file before we touch it. You can call or rename it "config_old.inc.php"
Open the file in your favorite IDE or text editor.
Look for the following lines ;
i) $cfg['Servers'][$i]['host']
ii) $cfg['Servers'][$i]['port']
iii) $cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket']
Change from :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'localhost';
to :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = '127.0.0.1';
Change from :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port'] = '3306';
/this might be your default. Just check to see from your MAMP installation preference , press CMD + , and confirm that port number you have specified. In my case I had changed it to 8889./
to :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port'] = '8889';
Again depending on where you installed your MAMP or to be more specific your mysql.
Change from :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket'] = 'some_folder_path or EMPTY';
to :
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket'] = '/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysql/mysql.sock';
After this modification, save and refresh in your web browser.
Worked for me. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Answer 9

check that mysql-server already installed if not
sudo apt-get install mysql-server