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Features

Database Tools

Local Panel documentation · Features

The database tools in Local Panel give you a calm way to manage MySQL databases on your server. You can create databases and users, inspect what is stored, and take a backup before a risky change — all over SSH, with nothing installed on the server and no terminal required.

Before you start

You need one thing: a server added to Local Panel and connected. If you have not done that yet, follow the quick start guide first. It takes a few minutes.

Everything in this guide runs over a plain SSH connection from the desktop app to your server. Local Panel does not install an agent or any other software on the server, and your database credentials stay between you and your machine.

Create a database and a dedicated user

Most applications need their own database. WordPress expects one, and so does almost any PHP project you deploy yourself. From the database tools in Local Panel you can create a new database in a few steps, give it a clear name, and set it up so it is ready to use.

At the same time, create a dedicated database user for that database. One user per application is a habit worth keeping:

  • Each application can only reach its own data, so a problem in one app cannot touch another app's tables.
  • If a password leaks, you only need to rotate one application's credentials.
  • Removing an application later means removing its database and its user, with nothing left behind.

Grant the new user full rights on its own database, and nothing more. Local Panel keeps the username and password you choose, stored only on your device.

Connect your application

To point your application at the new database, it will ask you for four values. The database tools in Local Panel are where you create and review them:

  1. Host — for most setups this is localhost, because the database lives on the same server as the application.
  2. Database name — the name you chose when creating the database.
  3. Username — the dedicated user for this application.
  4. Password — the password for that user.

WordPress stores these in its wp-config.php file; other PHP frameworks keep them in a .env file or similar configuration. The values are the same either way.

Inspect and export data

The database tools also let you look inside a database without leaving the app. You can browse tables, check what a table contains, and confirm that an installation or migration did what you expected.

Before any risky change — a migration, a bulk update, an upgrade — take an export first. From the database tools you can export a database to a file saved on your own machine. Keep it until you are sure the change went well. A backup you hold locally is yours to restore from, on your own terms.

Pair with PHP deployment and nginx

Databases rarely live alone. A typical website stack is PHP plus MySQL plus nginx. Local Panel covers the whole chain: the PHP deployment guide walks you through putting your site on the server, and the nginx configuration guide shows how to route traffic to it. Create the database first, deploy the site second, and point nginx at it last.

Still stuck? Email contact@nesdzo.co.uk — we're happy to help.