Introduction
MariaDB is the fork of MySQL, one of the most popular relational database. When Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, MySQL is forked to create MariaDB. In this article, we will see how to install MariaDB on CentOS 7, the popular server distro.
Installation
MariaDB package is already present in CentOS-7 package repository. So the installation is very easy. First update repository index and then install mariadb-server meta-package.
yum update -y
yum install -y mariadb-server
Now lets start MariaDB service.
systemctl start mariadb.service
Make sure service is running by checking status.
systemctl status mariadb.service
To start service automatically every time on boot, enter below command.
systemctl enable mariadb.service
Initial Setup
Once MariaDB service is up, we have to run first time setup. Enter below command and provide details.
/usr/bin/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
you haven't set the root password yet, the password will be blank,
so you should just press enter here.
Enter current password for root (enter for none):
Hit the ENTER and choose to setup new password by typing y.
Enter current password for root (enter for none): OK, successfully used password, moving on… Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB root user without the proper authorisation. Set root password? [Y/n] y
Now enter your new password. It will NOT be shown when typed. Once done, hit ENTER and you will be asked again to re-type password. Once you typed it again, press ENTER.
New password: Re-enter new password: Password updated successfully! Reloading privilege tables.. … Success!
Now remove default Anonymous user to strengthen security by typing y.
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!
Also remove remote-login provision for root user. If you want to access particular database remotely, add separate less privileged user for this.
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!
MariaDB comes with default test database for testing purpose. Lets remove it too.
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!
Now finally reload privileges. 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!
Hoosh !!! We’re done !
Connect to MariaDB service
Lets connect to MariaDB server, we just setup. Use below command –
mysql -u root -p
Enter your new password and you’re in.
Conclusion
Installation of MariaDB on CentOS 7 is very easy. If you have any doubt, feel free to ask them in comments.