Before attempting to run MariaDB, first determine its current state, running or shutdown.
There are three options for starting and stopping MariaDB:
- Run mysqld (the MariaDB binary).
- Run the mysqld_safe startup script.
- Run the mysql.server startup script.
If you installed MariaDB in a non-standard location, you may have to edit location information in the script files. Stop MariaDB by simply adding a “stop” parameter with the script.
If you would like to start it automatically under Linux, add startup scripts to your init system. Each distribution has a different procedure. Refer to your system documentation.
Creating a User Account
Create a new user account with the following code:
'newusername'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'userpassword';
This code adds a row to the user table with no privileges. You also have the option to use a hash value for the password. Grant the user privileges with the following code:
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON database1 TO 'newusername'@'localhost';
Other privileges include just about every command or operation possible in MariaDB. After creating a user, execute a “FLUSH PRIVILEGES” command in order to refresh grant tables. This allows the user account to be used.
The Configuration File
After a build on Unix/Linux, the configuration file “/etc/my.conf” should be edited to appear as follows:
# Example mysql config file. # You can copy this to one of: # /etc/my.cnf to set global options, # /mysql-data-dir/my.cnf to get server specific options or # ~/my.cnf for user specific options. # # One can use all long options that the program supports. # Run the program with --help to get a list of available options # This will be passed to all mysql clients [client] #password=my_password #port=3306 #socket=/tmp/mysql.sock # Here is entries for some specific programs # The following values assume you have at least 32M ram # The MySQL server [mysqld] #port=3306 #socket=/tmp/mysql.sock temp-pool # The following three entries caused mysqld 10.0.1-MariaDB (and possibly other versions) to abort... # skip-locking # set-variable = key_buffer=16M # set-variable = thread_cache=4 loose-innodb_data_file_path = ibdata1:1000M loose-mutex-deadlock-detector gdb ######### Fix the two following paths # Where you want to have your database data=/path/to/data/dir # Where you have your mysql/MariaDB source + sql/share/english language=/path/to/src/dir/sql/share/english [mysqldump] quick set-variable = max_allowed_packet=16M [mysql] no-auto-rehash [myisamchk] set-variable= key_buffer=128M
Edit the lines “data= ” and “language= ” to match your environment.
After file modification, navigate to the source directory and execute the following:
./scripts/mysql_install_db --srcdir=$PWD --datadir=/path/to/data/dir -- user=$LOGNAME
Omit the “$PWD” variable if you added datadir to the configuration file. Ensure “$LOGNAME” is used when running version 10.0.1 of MariaDB.
Administration Commands
Review the following list of important commands you will regularly use when working with MariaDB:
- USE [database name] – Sets the current default database.
- SHOW DATABASES – Lists the databases currently on the server.
- SHOW TABLES – Lists all non-temporary tables.
- SHOW COLUMNS FROM [table name] – Provides column information pertaining to the specified table.
- SHOW INDEX FROM TABLENAME [table name] – Provides table index information relating to the specified table.
- SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE [table name]\G – Provides tables with information about non-temporary tables, and the pattern that appears after the LIKE clause is used to fetch table names.