How to Access phpMyAdmin on AWS Lightsail (Secure Method)

AWS Lightsail doesn’t expose phpMyAdmin publicly — instead, you access it securely using an SSH tunnel. This keeps your database private and protected.

Download Your SSH (P-E-M) Key

From the Lightsail console, download your instance’s SSH key. You’ll need this file to authenticate.

Create an SSH Tunnel

Open a terminal and create an SSH tunnel that forwards a local port to the server’s web port.

Example:

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem -N -L 8888:127.0.0.1:80 bitnami@YOUR_SERVER_IP

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem -N -L 8888:127.0.0.1:80 bitnami@YOUR_SERVER_IP

Once connected, open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:8888/phpmyadmin

http://localhost:8888/phpmyadmin

Get Your Database Credentials

Open a second terminal tab and SSH into the server normally, then view your WordPress config file:

cat /opt/bitnami/wordpress/wp-config.php

cat /opt/bitnami/wordpress/wp-config.php

To learn more about creating an SSH Connection, check out my tutorial on how to SSH into AWS Lightsail.

Note: When you close the SSH tunnel terminal, phpMyAdmin will immediately disconnect. This is expected and normal.