Database access
Direct access to an environment’s database is limited, but users can view data in a read-only phpMyAdmin console session or interact with the databases on WPVIP through WP-CLI commands run via VIP-CLI.
Copies of database backups can also be downloaded from an application’s VIP Dashboard or with VIP-CLI.
phpMyAdmin
Users can view data in a read-only phpMyAdmin console session using the VIP Dashboard or VIP-CLI.
Prerequisites
- To view the Database Backups panel, a user must have at minimum an Org member role or an App read role for that application.
- Users with an Org admin role or an App admin role can access a read-only phpMyAdmin console with the VIP Dashboard.
To open a phpMyAdmin console for an application environment’s database:
- Navigate to the VIP Dashboard for an application.
- Select an environment from the environment dropdown located at the upper left of the VIP Dashboard.
- Select “Database” from the sidebar navigation at the left of the screen.
- Select “Database Backups” from the submenu.
- Select “Open phpMyAdmin” under the “Browse Database” card located in the bottom right of the VIP Dashboard to enable phpMyAdmin and generate an access link. This may take a minute.
- A banner will appear at the top of the VIP Dashboard with the generated access link when complete. This link will expire after 60 seconds.
- Select the access link in the banner, or select “Open phpMyAdmin” again, to open the phpMyAdmin console in a new tab in the user’s browser.
Prerequisites
- VIP-CLI is installed and has been updated to the most current version.
- Users with an Org admin role or an App admin role can access a read-only phpMyAdmin console with the VIP-CLI command
vip db phpmyadmin.
The vip db phpmyadmin command opens a phpMyAdmin console for an environment’s database in the user’s default browser. The phpMyAdmin session will persist for 6 hours. To begin a new session run the vip db phpmyadmin command again.
For example, to access phpMyAdmin for the develop environment of the “example-app” application:
$ vip @example-app.develop db phpmyadminNote
For sites behind a reverse proxy configuration, all request paths that begin with [PROXIED_DOMAIN]/.wpvip/pma must be configured to forward to VIP in order to access the phpMyAdmin console.
Refer to phpMyAdmin’s documentation for additional guidance on performing read-only actions in the console.
WP-CLI
WP-CLI commands can be run in the command line using the VIP-CLI vip wp command. Most WP-CLI wp db * commands are disallowed, but wp db query is allowed and defaults to read-only. For write operations, wp db query must be passed with --read-write.
The user will be prompted to confirm the action before a command with --read-write is run against the database. To skip the confirmation prompt, include the --skip-confirm in the command.
As an alternative, a custom WP-CLI command could run a function that leverages $wpdb->query().
Database queries that include DROP, TRUNCATE, or CREATE cannot be executed.
Last updated: August 13, 2026
