Introduction
When it comes to open-source relational database management systems, MariaDB stands out as a powerful and flexible option. It’s a fork of MySQL and is known for its speed, reliability, and ease of use. If you’re looking to set up MariaDB on a Linux system – RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux or Debian, then you’re in the right place. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through on how to install MariaDB on Linux and how to get you up and running with MariaDB.
Prerequisites
Before we dive into the installation process, make sure you have the following:
- A Linux-based operating system (e.g., RHEL, CentOS, Rocky, Ubuntu, Debian).
- Root or sudo access to your Linux server.
Step 1: Update Your System
It’s always a good practice to ensure your system is up-to-date before installing any new software. Open your terminal and run the following commands:
For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
For CentOS/RHEL-based systems:
sudo yum update
Step 2: Install MariaDB
Now, let’s proceed with the installation of MariaDB. The command to install it varies slightly depending on your Linux distribution.
For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:
sudo apt install mariadb-client mariadb-server
For CentOS/RHEL-based systems:
The mariadb package is available in the AppStream repository hence we dont need to setup up the mariaDB repo separately. The module can be installed by running the command:
dnf install mariadb mariadb-server Last metadata expiration check: 0:15:29 ago on Thu 31 Aug 2023 12:37:29 PM EAT. Dependencies resolved. ====================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Package Architecture Version Repository Size ====================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing: mariadb x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 1.6 M mariadb-server x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 9.4 M Installing dependencies: mariadb-common x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 31 k mariadb-connector-c x86_64 3.2.6-1.el9_0 appstream 195 k mariadb-connector-c-config noarch 3.2.6-1.el9_0 appstream 9.8 k mariadb-errmsg x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 215 k mysql-selinux noarch 1.0.5-1.el9_0 appstream 35 k perl-DBD-MariaDB x86_64 1.21-16.el9_0 appstream 151 k perl-DBI x86_64 1.643-9.el9 appstream 700 k perl-File-Copy noarch 2.34-480.el9 appstream 20 k perl-Math-BigInt noarch 1:1.9998.18-460.el9 appstream 188 k perl-Math-Complex noarch 1.59-480.el9 appstream 47 k perl-Sys-Hostname x86_64 1.23-480.el9 appstream 17 k Installing weak dependencies: mariadb-backup x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 6.4 M mariadb-gssapi-server x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 19 k mariadb-server-utils x86_64 3:10.5.16-2.el9_0 appstream 213 k ... Installed: mariadb-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-backup-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-common-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-connector-c-3.2.6-1.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-connector-c-config-3.2.6-1.el9_0.noarch mariadb-errmsg-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-gssapi-server-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-server-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mariadb-server-utils-3:10.5.16-2.el9_0.x86_64 mysql-selinux-1.0.5-1.el9_0.noarch perl-DBD-MariaDB-1.21-16.el9_0.x86_64 perl-DBI-1.643-9.el9.x86_64 perl-File-Copy-2.34-480.el9.noarch perl-Math-BigInt-1:1.9998.18-460.el9.noarch perl-Math-Complex-1.59-480.el9.noarch perl-Sys-Hostname-1.23-480.el9.x86_64
Check MariaDB version
Option1 – rpm
Check the version that has been installed using the following command:
rpm -qi mariadb-server Name : mariadb-server Epoch : 3 Version : 10.5.16 Release : 2.el9_0 Architecture: x86_64 Install Date: Thu 31 Aug 2023 12:53:28 PM EAT Group : Unspecified Size : 65281392 License : GPLv2 and LGPLv2 Signature : RSA/SHA256, Tue 09 Aug 2022 09:18:19 PM EAT, Key ID 702d426d350d275d Source RPM : mariadb-10.5.16-2.el9_0.src.rpm Build Date : Tue 09 Aug 2022 07:45:12 PM EAT Build Host : pb-04f2ad6b-18d4-474f-a9fa-008b29b9d20d-b-x86-64 Packager : Rocky Linux Build System (Peridot) <[email protected]> Vendor : Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation URL : http://mariadb.org Summary : The MariaDB server and related files Description : MariaDB is a multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. It is a client/server implementation consisting of a server daemon (mariadbd) and many different client programs and libraries. This package contains the MariaDB server and some accompanying files and directories. MariaDB is a community developed fork from MySQL.
Option2 – mysqladmin
There is another option to check the running version using the mysqladmin tool which is a mariaDB/MySQL client that lets you run administrative commands. The command connects to MariaDB as root using the Unix socket and returns the version:
sudo mysqladmin version mysqladmin Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.5.16-MariaDB, for Linux on x86_64 Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others. Server version 10.5.16-MariaDB Protocol version 10 Connection Localhost via UNIX socket UNIX socket /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock Uptime: 9 hours 38 min 21 sec Threads: 1 Questions: 21 Slow queries: 0 Opens: 20 Open tables: 13 Queries per second avg: 0.000
An alternative to this is to log in to the MariaDB and check the version:
sudo mysqladmin -u root -p version Enter password: mysqladmin Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.5.16-MariaDB, for Linux on x86_64 Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others. Server version 10.5.16-MariaDB Protocol version 10 Connection Localhost via UNIX socket UNIX socket /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock Uptime: 9 hours 44 min 9 sec Threads: 1 Questions: 22 Slow queries: 0 Opens: 20 Open tables: 13 Queries per second avg: 0.000
Step 3: Start and Enable MariaDB
After the installation is complete, you need to start MariaDB and enable it to start at boot time. Use the following command:
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
Step 4: Secure Your MariaDB Installation
MariaDB provides a script to enhance the security of your installation. Run the following command and follow the on-screen prompts:
sudo mysql_secure_installation
NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MariaDB
SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE! PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!
In order to log into MariaDB to secure it, we'll need the current
password for the root user. If you've just installed MariaDB, and
haven't set the root password yet, you should just press enter here.
Enter current password for root (enter for none):
OK, successfully used password, moving on...
Setting the root password or using the unix_socket ensures that nobody
can log into the MariaDB root user without the proper authorisation.
You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.
Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] n
... skipping.
You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.
Change the root password? [Y/n] y
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
By default, a MariaDB installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone
to log into MariaDB without having to have a user account created for
them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation
go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a
production environment.
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This
ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network.
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
... Success!
By default, MariaDB comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can
access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed
before moving into a production environment.
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
- Dropping test database...
... Success!
- Removing privileges on test database...
... Success!
Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far
will take effect immediately.
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Cleaning up...
All done! If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB
installation should now be secure.
Thanks for using MariaDB!
This script allows you to:
- set a root password
- remove anonymous users
- disallow root login remotely
- more…
It’s essential to secure your database to prevent unauthorized access.
Step 5: Test Your MariaDB Installation
After ensuring that MariaDB is installed and running correctly, you can log in to the MariaDB shell using the following command. You will be prompted to enter the root password you set earlier:
sudo mysql -u root -p Enter password: Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g. Your MariaDB connection id is 11 Server version: 10.5.16-MariaDB MariaDB Server Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others. Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement. MariaDB [(none)]> SELECT VERSION(); +-----------------+ | VERSION() | +-----------------+ | 10.5.16-MariaDB | +-----------------+ 1 row in set (0.000 sec) MariaDB [(none)]> show databases; +--------------------+ | Database | +--------------------+ | information_schema | | mysql | | performance_schema | +--------------------+ 3 rows in set (0.001 sec) MariaDB [(none)]>
Congratulations! You have successfully installed MariaDB on your Linux system. You are now ready to create databases, tables, and start building your applications with this powerful open-source database management system.
Conclusion
In this guide, we’ve walked you through the process of installing MariaDB on a Linux-based system. We are working to create more content on MariaDB. Stay connected.
Read more:
- How to Install MongoDB 6.0 on Rocky Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS Stream, Alma Linux or Oracle Linux
- How to Create MongoDB database with the CLI
