PHP: Connecting PHP to MySQL with PDO

This documentation is part of the Connect to MySQL guide. You can view the complete guide here: Learn how to connect to MySQL from PHP using MySQLi and PDO.

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PDO offers a flexible method for connecting PHP to MySQL. The example below illustrates how to use PDO to establish a connection. It also addresses potential SSL certificate issues that may arise if your system lacks access to CA certificates.

<?php

$hostname = '<XXXXXX>.stackhero-network.com';
$user = 'root';
$password = '<yourPassword>';
$database = 'root'; // For production environments, consider creating a dedicated database and user

$dsn = "mysql:host=$hostname;dbname=$database";

$options = array(
  // If you encounter an error like "Uncaught PDOException: PDO::__construct(): SSL operation failed with code 1...",
  // it may be because the /etc/ssl/certs/ directory is missing CA certificates
  PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CAPATH => '/etc/ssl/certs/',
  // PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => 'isrgrootx1.pem',
  PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_VERIFY_SERVER_CERT => true,
);

$pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $password, $options);

$stm = $pdo->query('SELECT VERSION()');
$version = $stm->fetch();

echo 'You are connected to a database running version ' . $version[0] . "\n";

?>

Handling the error "SSL operation failed with code 1"

If you see an error such as Uncaught PDOException: PDO::__construct(): SSL operation failed with code 1. OpenSSL Error messages: error:0A000086:SSL routines::certificate verify failed, it is likely that your system's /etc/ssl/certs/ directory does not contain the necessary CA certificates.

If you have access to the system running your PHP code, you can install the certificates as follows:

1. On Ubuntu/Debian, run sudo apt-get install ca-certificates
2. On Alpine Linux, run apk add ca-certificates

If you do not have direct access to install these certificates on your system, you can install the certificate manually:

1. Download the certificate to your computer: https://letsencrypt.org/certs/isrgrootx1.pem
2. Add the isrgrootx1.pem file to your PHP project files.
3. Comment out the line PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CAPATH => '/etc/ssl/certs/'
4. Uncomment the line PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => 'isrgrootx1.pem'