Joomla: update connection information for a MySQL database

If you needed to update the connection between the MySQL database and your Joomla site (in order to avoid the error "Database connection error: could not connect to mysql" for example) then this guide details how to proceed.

Items to change

Here is the information to adapt in the configuration.php file for your Joomla site to work (as a general rule, a prefix has simply been added in front of the existing database name and the user name):

1. the name of the MySQL database ( bddname  before,  abcd_bddname  after for example)
2. the host server of the MySQL database ( mysql.votredomaine.ch  before,  abcd.myd.infomaniak.com  after for example)
3. the user name which accesses the MySQL database ( userbdd  before,  abcd_userbdd  after for example)
4. the path of the following two directories: /tmp and /logs
   

Edit the Joomla configuration.php file

1. open the Manager (manager.infomaniak.com)
2. go to Web Hosting
3. click on the hosting/domain name concerned
4. under  Sites , click on the relevant site
5. click on the Advanced settings button
6. under the PHP tab click on PHP Information
7. at line _SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] copy the path to the right
8. in the left side menu, click on Databases
9. find and store your current MySQL information according to the list above (help: https://faq.infomaniak.com/1981)
10. in the left side menu, click on  FTP/SSH
11. create an FTP account: https://faq.infomaniak.com/1982
12. connect via FTP: https://faq.infomaniak.com/1130
13. edit the configuration.php file located in the root folder of your Joomla
14. find the relevant paragraph and update the 4 pieces of information (according to the list above)
15. don't forget to replace the old path (including "www") with the new path:
16. save the file and that's it, your Joomla will now connect to the correct database has

Check the changes made

In the Joomla interface, it is possible to check the paths of the /logs and /tmp folders:

• for the /logs folder: go to System / Configuration then System
• for the /tmp folder: go to System / Configuration then Server