Error: Could not connect to the database! Please, make sure the details are correct.

Like so many others, I am having this frustrating (first run) issue after installing and provisioning access to Akaunting.

The install instructions are quite inadequate, but between them and various forum posts and replies, I figured out that I have to:

• create an empty mySQL DB


• use utf8  (apparently this problem catches those using utf8mb4*)


• use a simple (character) password -- no special characters, no spaces . . . US-ASCII upper, lower and numbers only)


• additionally, I used a simple username (simpler than mySQL mandates)

I have tested that the user in question can connect to the DB (I used HeidiSQL and Adminer, just to be sure)

This is on newly released Akaunting 1.3.3

This is on Ubuntu 18.04 running on NginX 1.15.6

The site is protected with a cert from Let's Encrypt.

It is at its own url with its own document root -- nothing else is getting in the way.

Thanks in advance for any quick ideas you may have on solving this issue.

* Note, the devs should really allow for use of utf8mb4.  There are many analyses showing that utf8 is not capable of a complete international character set.  Given the number of languages Akaunting supports, a complete character set should really be used.

In addition to the other configuration details I posted, I also tried with a user with two types of permisions:

1. the user hass ALL permissions for just the akaunting DB


2. the user has ALL permissions for ALL mySQL DBs on the server

In either case, the user has access only from localhost and the local network.  Since this is a webapp, localhost access to the DB should be more than enough . . .

I just noticed that the online documentation is editable.

After Thanksgiving I will take some time to flesh out the (fairly significant) details which are missed at the page: https://akaunting.com/docs/installation

Thank you for allowing users to participate in the documentation.  That's great!  :-)

Looks like no one added any comments on the installation page instructions. You have to setup and make the database FIRST.
I thought that Akaunting had an internal setup with its install process as its has 3 directories under the database directory in APPs. But it doesn't. At this precise moment I have been waiting for the install program to see and work with the database I set up, Has been over 15 minutes so far. Would be really nice if some one would have a procedure in this part of the install instructions as it's not a good introduction to the process.
Being new the whole process I wonder why the database isn't there already. Or at least some instructions that tell you to make one!

I noticed that [check printing](https://akaunting.com/forum/discussion/ideas/check-printing) is now available, so I thought I'd give Akaunting another try.

So I installed (using "Akaunting_2.0.26-Stable.zip") on Ubuntu 20.04 running PHP 8.0 with MariaDB 10.5.3 on Nginx 1.19.6. I also made sure I have all the required PHP extensions. Various other PHP applications work fine with this configuration.

I am sorry to report connecting to a database is STILL a problem and, frankly, a worse problem than before.

Previously at least it threw an error. Now, the "next" button at step 2 "database" just shows endlessly cycling dots. The Laravel debug bar (is that what it is called?) gives no indication of what is wrong.

As in my original post from 2 years ago, I have tried with an empty database using nothing extraordinary (ASCII-only password; utf8 charset, not utf8mb4).

I have ALSO tried with NO existing database as "app/Http/Controllers/Install/Database.php" seems to suggest Akaunting can create a DB.

The install documentation is still severely lacking (I never posted to it as I never had a fully functioning installation) and I fear that Akaunting will never truly take off (in the self-hosted arena) without that.

So . . . Could one of the Akaunting Devs *CLEARLY* post what the requirements are for a mySQL/MariaDB underpinning the Akaunting app?

For example:
+ can Akaunting create the DB or must it already exist?
+ are there limits (beyond the limits imposed by mySQL/MaraDB) on DB name?
+ are there limits (beyond the limits imposed by mySQL/MaraDB) on DB password?
+ is utf8mb4 supported now?

I am still having the same exact issue with Akaunting 2.1.6

Again, the "next" button at step 2 "database" just shows endlessly cycling dots. The Laravel debug bar (is that what it is called?) gives no indication of what is wrong.

The database is pre-created. The user can access the DB via localhost and even from remote hosts (although that should not be necessary).