How to Fix the "Your PHP Installation Appears to Be Missing the MySQL Extension Which Is Required by WordPress" Error
Introduction:
Have you ever visit your Wordpress site and instead of being redirected to the home page, you received a blank page with an error message said “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress.” If yes that’s means is having trouble connecting to your MySQL database but don’t worry in this article we’ll figure out what causes the MySQL extension error message and look at a few easy ways to resolve it.
Definition of Mysql extension error:
The MySQL extension error is an error message that indicates the PHP installation on your server doesn’t have the MySQL extension required to connect WordPress to your MySQL database. In other words, the version of PHP you’re using is not compatible with your WordPress software.
Causes "Your PHP Installation Appears to Be Missing the MySQL Extension Which Is Required by WordPress" Error:
The main reason for this error is the incompatibility between php version and wordpress.
If you’re using an old version of WordPress with a new version of PHP, you might encounter this error because PHP 7.0 deprecated the MySQL extension in favor of MySQLi. That is, PHP 7+ no longer includes the MySQL extension that WordPress is looking for. new versions of WordPress will instead use the newer PDO_MySQL or MySQLi extensions. However, older versions of WordPress (below version 3.9) might cause this problem.
The other likely cause is that you are using PHP 5, but the extension is not installed or improperly configured.
How to Fix "Your PHP Installation Appears to Be Missing the MySQL Extension Which Is Required by WordPress" Error:
1- Check which PHP version you are using:
Connect to your server, create a new file called phpinfo.php in the root directory of your WordPress site. This should be the same folder that contains your wp-config.php file. Then, edit the file and add the following code snippet:
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
Once you save the file. navigate to yoursite.com/phpinfo.php, making sure to replace yoursite.com with your actual domain name.
If your PHP version starts with a 7, that usually means that you need to update your WordPress instance. On the other hand, if you’re still using PHP 5.X, you might be missing or mis-configure the MySQL extension.
2 - Update WordPress (if php7+):
If you can still log in to your WordPress dashboard, you can check whether there’s an update directly in your dashboard.
Select Dashboard > Updates.
If you see the message “An updated version of WordPress is available,” click Update Now.
Select Dashboard > Updates.
Click Update all if the option is available.
if you cannot log in to your wordpress dashboard you should upgrade manually your WordPress. Then, go to WordPress.org and download the most recent copy of the WordPress software.
Once you’ve downloaded it, extract the zip file to your computer. Then, open the folder that contains all of the WordPress files and delete the following items:
The wp-config-sample.php file.
The wp-config.php file (you might not see this file – just make sure to delete it if it’s there).
The wp-content folder.
Once you’ve deleted those items, upload the remaining files/folders to your server via FTP. When prompted about duplicate files by your FTP client, tell it to overwrite all files.
You should also make sure to update all of your plugins and themes to the latest versions as well. 3. Verify the MySQL Extension Is Installed (if php5):
go back to the phpinfo.php file that you uploaded to your server look for a section named either mysql or mysqli.
If the MySQL extension is installed, you should see a version number next to the Client API library version item:
If you can’t find this information, that means the MySQL extension is not installed. The solution is install it on your system if you have hands on the host if you have not reach out your host’s support and ask them to install it for you.
If you find the extension installed, the issue might be that it’s not configured properly. Two common issues are:
Uploading a php.ini file that’s intended for Windows servers when you’re using a Linux server
Incorrect file paths.
You can find the location of your php.ini file in the phpinfo.php file that you created before:
Conclusion on fixing "Your PHP Installation Appears to Be Missing the MySQL Extension Which Is Required by WordPress" Error:
The “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress” message is a frustrating error to encounter because it block the users from accessing your web site.
However, with the steps in this article, you should be able to fix the problem and get your web site up and running.
We recommend to make sure you’re using the most recent versions of both PHP and WordPress.
