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Databases

Each VIP Platform WordPress environment is supported by a unique database. Unique databases per-environment allows testing to be performed on non-production environments without impacting the production environment.

Access

Direct access to an environment’s database is limited.

phpMyAdmin

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.

Note

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

Most WP-CLI wp db * commands are disallowed on VIP. Queries that include DROPTRUNCATE or CREATE cannot be executed. wp db query is allowed, but defaults to read-only. For write operations, wp db query must be passed with --read-write. As an alternative, a custom WP-CLI command could run a function that leverages $wpdb->query().

Database queries

Direct database queries in code should be avoided whenever possible. WordPress API functions for fetching and manipulating data should be used instead.

  • Database queries that run for longer than 60 seconds are automatically terminated. This is a default platform setting that is subject to change, and is not customizable per application.
  • Slow queries that should be optimized in order to improve database efficiency can be reviewed in the Health – Slow Query Logs panel in the VIP Dashboard.
  • The efficiency of the queries made to the database by application code can be reviewed in the Insights & Metrics panel of the VIP Dashboard.

Custom tables

Use caution when adding custom tables to a VIP Platform environment’s database.

  • To prevent unexpected issues, all tables should begin with the $wpdb->prefix table prefix.
  • Use dbDelta as part of an upgrade routine to add/update the table.
  • Do a thorough analysis of the schema and indexes and validate against the queries being run to ensure they match up.
  • Add caching to queries where it makes sense.

Last updated: February 09, 2024

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  • WordPress