PrestaShop 1.5 – Error – Link to database cannot be established

If you have a database configuration error, it can display in different ways. If error reporting is not turned on, it will show differently according to the browser.

While these messages are fairly general and can be for different errors as well, it is best to then turn on the error reporting as shown in a previous article. The error should then display with the beginning portion reading “Fatal error: Uncaught exception ‘PrestaShopDatabaseException’ with message ‘Link to database cannot be established.”

To troubleshoot the database configuration:

1. Log into your hosting control panel, SSH, or FTP client.
2. Navigate to the PrestaShop 1.5 root folder.
3. From there, find your way to the config folder.
4. Once in the config folder, locate the file named settings.inc.php This is the file with all of the database settings.
5. The table below shows your the four database settings. Ensure that each one is correct. The data shown is sample data, so you will need to know the connection data for your own installation.
   
   

   define(‘_DB_SERVER_’, ‘localhost’);

   define(‘_DB_NAME_’, ‘your_database_name’);

   define(‘_DB_USER_’, ‘your_database_user_name’);

   define(‘_DB_PASSWD_’, ‘your_database_password’);

6. Once you have corrected the database settings and saved the file, refresh the page to see if the site displays. If so, you may turn off the error reporting.

That is how you troubleshoot a database connection error in PrestaShop 1.5.