Why is WordPress unable to connect to my database during install?
If you are getting an "Error establishing a database connection" message when trying to connect to WordPress, you need to modify your wp-config.php file in order to work with our Database servers.
Update your wp-config.php file
This article assumes that you have already created a Database for WordPress in the Control Panel in your hosting account, downloaded the WordPress installation and uploaded it to your hosting account. If any of these is not the case, see Manually Install WordPress into your Hosting Account.
Find the Host Name for Your MySQL Database
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- Click Web Hosting.
- Next to the hosting account you want to use, click Launch.
- In the Databases section of the Control Panel in your hosting account, click the MySQL icon.
- From your list of databases, click Actions, and then select Details.
- The Database Information page displays. Note the following items, as they will be needed later in the install process:
- Host Name
- Database Name
- Database User Name
Modify your wp-config.php file
Open wp-config.php with a text editor such as Notepad. The wp-config.php file is located in your WordPress installation folder in your hosting account. If there is no file called wp-config.php, open wp-config-sample.php and save it as wp-config.php. You will be working in this file from now on.
In wp-config.php, locate the section that looks like this example:
define('DB_NAME', 'putyourdbnamehere');
/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'usernamehere');
/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourpasswordhere');
/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
Enter the Database information from your Database as follows:
- putyourdbnamehere is your MySQL Database Name
- usernamehere is your MySQL User Name
- yourpasswordhere is your MySQL password
- localhost is your MySQL Host Name
WordPress includes security keys which add encryption of information stored in user's cookies. These must be set manually in the wp-config.php file. Locate the section of the file that looks like this:
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');
define('LOGGED_IN_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');
define('NONCE_KEY', 'put your unique phrase here');
Go to WordPress' online key generator and insert the keys in place of the placeholder text in the wp-config.php file. When you are finished, save and close the wp-config.php file.
Re-start the WordPress installation
Start the WordPress installation process again by visiting http://www.coolexample.com/wp-admin/install.php (where coolexample.com/ is your domain and the path where your WordPress installation is located). The installation should now work normally. If this is not the case, see Manually Install WordPress into your Hosting Account and verify you have installed WordPress correctly.
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