Upgrading MariaDB on Windows
If you already have MySQL installed on your Windows system, and want to upgrade to MariaDB; do not uninstall MySQL and install MariaDB. This will cause a conflict with the existing database. You must instead install MariaDB, and then use the upgrade wizard in the Windows installation file.
The options of your MySQL my.cnf file should work with MariaDB. However, MariaDB has many features, which are not found in MySQL.
Consider the following conflicts in your my.cnf file:
- MariaDB uses Aria storage engine by default for temporary files. If you have a lot of temporary files, modify key buffer size if you do not use MyISAM tables.
- If your applications connect/disconnect frequently, alter the thread cache size.
- If you use over 100 connections, use the thread pool.
Compatibility
MySQL and MariaDB are essentially identical. However, there are enough differences to create issues in upgradation. Review more of these key differences in the MariaDB Knowledge Base.