How to Fix PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress

15/10/19 / by Mike West

How To Fix the PHP Error:

When setting up a new WordPress install on a Linux VPS, it’s not uncommon to get an error message “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension”. This is because the MySQL extension isn’t included with the operating system. Don’t get too discouraged, we have a fix. Follow these simple steps to get the MySQL extension set up on your server.

Steps to fix “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress“

    1. Connect to your server via SSH
      In your terminal, type in:
      ssh [ip address]
    2. Check the version of PHP that is install
      php -v
    3. Install MySQL
      If you are up to date, you will most likely have php 7. Run the following command:
      apt-get update
      apt-get install php7.0-mysql
      If you are running php 5, run
      apt-get update
      apt-get install php-mysql
    4. Restart your Apache server
      You will need to restart apache for the new php module to run properly
      /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
      or
      apachectl restart
    5. Your error message should now be fixed!