Version information

[Ennex]

Hi,

I installed XAMPP two days ago. I think it's great and appreciate this community approach to software development.

Last night, I noticed a banner near the bottom of the local phpMyAdmin page advising me to upgrade to version 4.4.0, which was released on April 1. This is above the banner in red urging me to set a password, which I also need to look into. Today, the upgrade banner has changed to advise me to upgrade to 4.4.1, released today.

I don't see any link or menu entry for for upgrading. The local phpMyAdmin documentation has a section called, "Upgrading from an older version," which says some things to do and not do when upgrading, but does not say where to get the newest version. The online doc for phpMyAdmin has a page on installation (http://docs.phpmyadmin.net/en/latest/setup.html), which has a section called "Quick Install," which has four steps that are quite complicated. I certainly wouldn't want to do that every week if that is how often new versions of phpMyAdmin come out.

The local phpMyAdmin page says that it's running version 4.2.11. I found a list of old versions at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpmyadmin/files/phpMyAdmin/
which does not show a version 4.2.11, but has versions 4.2.10 and 4.2.12 from last October and November.

I then found a list of versions of XAMPP at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/files/XAMPP%20Windows/
I don't know what to make of it because the version numbers jump from 1.8.2 last August to both 5.5.19 and 5.6.3 on last Nov. 19. But that date is consistent with the version of phpMyAdmin in it being 4.2.11.

So I have four questions:
1. Do I need to upgrade phpMyAdmin now and should I be doing that with every new version?
2. Does that mean going through the complex procedure described under "Quick Install" (linked above)?
3. Is that procedure compatible with a XAMPP installation of phpMyAdmin?
4. Is there something I should be doing to ensure that all the components of XAMPP are kept up-to-date?

Thanks for your help.

[JJ_Tagy]

You can treat phpmyadmin as a completely separate element if you like. You can manually update (download new version and replace entire phpmyadmin folder keeping/updating config file as required/desired). Another option I did recently was to delete the existing folder all together and I have Softaculous free add-on install phpmyadmin and that script handles my phpmyadmin updates automatically.

[Altrea]

Hi Ennex,

1. Do I need to upgrade phpMyAdmin now and should I be doing that with every new version?

No, there is no need to upgrade phpMyAdmin if you do not have any problems with it.

2. Does that mean going through the complex procedure described under "Quick Install" (linked above)?

If you really want to upgrade then yes. Alternative see JJ_Tagys suggestion about softacolous.

3. Is that procedure compatible with a XAMPP installation of phpMyAdmin?

There is no difference between a default phpMyAdmin and XAMPP phpMyAdmin installation procedure.

4. Is there something I should be doing to ensure that all the components of XAMPP are kept up-to-date?

XAMPP does not support upgrading any of the single component alone. phpMyAdmin can be kept up to date because it is loosly coupled (which is not the case for Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc.)

best wishes,
Altrea

[Ennex]

Thank you Altrea and JJ_Tagy for your answers.

XAMPP does not support upgrading any of the single component alone. phpMyAdmin can be kept up to date because it is loosly coupled (which is not the case for Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc.)

That sounds scary. Does that mean that I cannot update those three base components at all and that I am forever locked into using the versions currently installed? That seems like a serious drawback of using XAMPP.

[Altrea]

Does that mean that I cannot update those three base components at all

It is not technically impossible, but not supported.
You can for sure install a current XAMPP version and migrate your existing data to it if you want to upgrade.

If you really need to upgrade single components, you will need to install and couple the single components on your own, XAMPP don't fits this requirement.

[Ennex]

Let me see if I understand.

I've installed XAMPP in order to provide a local development environment for Drupal. I presume that the online host I select will constantly update Apache, PHP, and MySQL as new versions are released. If I don't likewise update those components on my computer, then I may develop content that will not run when uploaded to the online server. That is why I thought I should be keeping those components up-to-date locally.

It seems that having a local development environment is probably the reason a lot of other people have XAMPP. So what I've just described ought to be something a lot of people need to do. How do those people maintain compatibility between their local sites under XAMPP and their online sites?

Or am I confused about something?

Thanks for your help.

[Nobbie]

I presume that the online host I select will constantly update Apache, PHP, and MySQL as new versions are released.

Sorry, but this is definately completely WRONG. NOTHING is upgraded automatically, as it may destroy running applications etc. It is always a big task (and you have to go for it) to change/upgrade the infrastructure of your hosting environment.

Or am I confused about something?

Yes! See above.

The idea of Xampp is NOT having compatibilty between you local PC and the hosting environment. It is simply only for development purpose.

Actually, there is NO need for having a development environment, if you are NOT a developer. If you think of WordPress, Joomla, etc. - you do not develop anything. You simply use it. Nothing else.

[JJ_Tagy]

I presume that the online host I select will constantly update Apache, PHP, and MySQL as new versions are released.

Sorry, but this is definately completely WRONG. NOTHING is upgraded automatically, as it may destroy running applications etc. It is always a big task (and you have to go for it) to change/upgrade the infrastructure of your hosting environment.

I think he is actually saying that his paid live host will update their server - not XAMPP.

So my response is, it depends on your hosting service. Some services don't update anything for you beyond security patches (if even that) - you may have to update on your own. Typically, they only update minor versions, not major, unless they warn you for application compatibility.

[Nobbie]

I think he is actually saying that his paid live host will update their server - not XAMPP.

Yes, i know, i understood that, but this is not "reality". For many many reasons, there is NO automatically update only if (for example) Apache or PHP provides new releases. This could lead to major problems for thousands of customers in case of a mass hosting provider, therefore software upgrades are not very often and even if they happen, customors have to agree and to take care of their sites.

Of course, minor patches (which solves known bugs) are installed automatically, but never ever a major upgrade or similar.