Creating a Database for Joomla!

Every installation of the Joomla! CMS requires a database. The database will store data such as articles, menus, categories, and users. This information is needed to make and manage your Joomla! website. Regardless of the requirements of the version, in order to install Joomla! you must have a working database, database user, database password and proper privileges for the database user. You will need to complete these tasks before you begin the installation. This article will address the most common type of database used when Installing Joomla!, a MySQL database. Although the focus here is on using cPanel on a hosting account, other types of hosting interfaces should have similar steps.

MySQL DB Wizard

For beginners, it is recommended the MySQL Database Wizard is used. The wizard will guide you step by step through the process. You may use these steps to guide you through your own hosting account panel if it differs, they are:

Create a Database → Create a User → Set User password → Set User Privileges.

First, activate the wizard by clicking the icon in you hosting account's cPanel.

Creating a Database

Next, you must choose a name for your database. In a shared hosting environment, your database name is usually proceeded by your hosting account's username, then an id your specify. For example, if your hosting account's username is B1234, your database name could look similar to this: B1234_joomla.

Creating a Database User and User password

Once you have created a database, you now need a 'database user' to access it. This step will create a user and the user's password at the same time. The username for a database will be similar in look to the database name. You can actually use the name of the database for the user, but for security, you should use a unique username with a strong password.

Set the User Privileges

The last task to creating a database for Joomla! is to give your database user privileges(permissions) to interact with your database. These privileges give your user the ability to create database tables, drop them(delete), alter, index and a variety of other interactive tasks.

• If you are not using the database creation wizard. Privileges are usually included in the assignment of a database user to a database. This work flow is Create db → Create db User → Assign a db User to a db(including privileges).

Finishing Up

After you complete all the steps of the database wizard, you will see the summary of the final results.

Write down the following information for use in your Joomla! installation.

• Database name, example: D1234_joomla
• Database user, example: D1234_juser
• Database user's password
• Note the location of the database. Usually, Localhost for a cPanel installation. Occasionally, a hosting account may have a database server completely separate from a user account's server for physical files. Instead of Localhost the database server may actually be a URL type of address, dbserver10.hosting.com.