This article will help you configure Astra Website Protection with a MySQL database, instead of the default SQLite database.

1. Step 1 - Select/Create MySQL database

You can either use an existing MySQL database, or create a new database (recommended) for use with Astra. You can refer to one of these guides to create the new database:

cPanel - HostGator, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Hostinger etc.
Plesk - Vultr, A2, Liquid Web etc.
Self-hosted MySQL

Once you've created a new database & user, we will need to set the following environment variables:

Step 2 - Update the environment variables

We need to set the database connection details in the environment variables, so that the Astra Website Protection plugin can use them. There are multiple ways to set the environment variables on your server as shown below.

Method 1 - Add code to your website config file (recommended)

This is the easiest way to set environment variables. Open the config file of your CMS such as wp-config.php or config.php and add the following PHP code to it (after setting the correct database credentials):

//Begin Astra Security

putenv('ASTRA_DB_CONNECTION=mysql');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_PORT=3306');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_PREFIX=astra_gk_');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_DATABASE=astra_security');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_HOST=localhost');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_USERNAME=astra_security');
putenv('ASTRA_DB_PASSWORD=<database_password>');

//END Astra Security

Some of the common paths of the config file:

Method 2 - Update your existing .env file

If you're using a framework such as Laravel, Symfony etc. and already use an environment file, you can simply add these variables to it. Add the following code to the .env file after updating the values:

ASTRA_DB_CONNECTION=mysql
ASTRA_DB_PORT=3306
ASTRA_DB_PREFIX=astra_gk_
ASTRA_DB_DATABASE=astra_security
ASTRA_DB_HOST=localhost
ASTRA_DB_USERNAME=astra_security
ASTRA_DB_PASSWORD=<database_password>

Method 3 - Set environment variables via server config

If you are using Apache, you can add the following code to your .htaccess file set the environment variables. Before making any changes in your live server, please make a copy of the .htaccess file.

SetEnv ASTRA_DB_CONNECTION mysql
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_PORT 3306
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_PREFIX astra_gk_
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_DATABASE astra_security
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_HOST localhost
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_USERNAME astra_security
SetEnv ASTRA_DB_PASSWORD <database_password>

Step 3 - Verify Changes

Once the above changes are made, you can click on Verify Installation in the Getting Started screen, or simply run a new Malware Scan to verify that these changes have taken effect. If you face any issues with this process, please feel free to reach out to us by creating a support ticket from the Astra Dashboard.