Missing mbstring PHP extension when installing phpMyAdmin on Mac

Question

PhpMyAdmin install errors

Having some issues with installing phpMyAdmin. I would like to resolve the following issue, but don't have a clue where to start (except maybe php.ini?).

Here's the error message.

The mbstring PHP extension was not found and you seem to be using a multibyte charset. Without the mbstring extension phpMyAdmin is unable to split strings correctly and it may result in unexpected results.

And here's a related article I found on SO that was for Linux but didn't work on my Mac (OSX 10.6 with PHP updated, etc): PhpMyAdmin install errors

Answer 1

Like the error message says, your PHP installation lacks the mbstring extension. The Apple-provided PHP 5.3.3 in my Snow Leopard seems to have it, but many distributions bundle the extensions separately. For instance, if you use PHP from macports you need to install the php5-mbstring -package with:

sudo port install php5-mbstring

Answer 2

Minor note - if you have installed a different version of php (like php5.5) you must install the correct version of the mbstring package. In my case:

sudo port install php55-mbstring

To activate, you have to have a line like this in your php.ini file:

extension=mbstring.so

Which comes from:

/opt/local/var/db/php55/mbstring.ini

(if you use the default macports install root).

Answer 3

In the newest php versions the "extension_dir" path is not enabled initial.

It works with Windows and Linux, so maybe it helps also on MacOs ... :)

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