MariaDB and MySQL have identical install methods. In this document we

describe how to install MariaDB.

The full documentation for installing MariaDB can be found at

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/binary-packages/

However most documentation at www.mysql.com also applies.

2.2. Installing MariaDB from Generic Binaries on Unix/Linux

This section covers the installation of MariaDB binary distributions

that are provided for various platforms in the form of compressed

tar files (files with a .tar.gz extension).

MariaDB tar file binary distributions have names of the form

mariadb-VERSION-OS.tar.gz, where VERSION is a number (for example,

5.1.39), and OS indicates the type of operating system for which

the distribution is intended (for example, pc-linux-i686).

You need the following tools to install a MariaDB tar file binary

distribution:

* GNU gunzip to uncompress the distribution.

* A reasonable tar to unpack the distribution. GNU tar is known

to work. Some operating systems come with a preinstalled

version of tar that is known to have problems. For example,

the tar provided with early versions of Mac OS X, SunOS 4.x,

Solaris 8, Solaris 9, Solaris 10 and OpenSolaris, and HP-UX

are known to have problems with long file names. On Mac OS X,

you can use the preinstalled gnutar program. On Solaris 10 and

OpenSolaris you can use the preinstalled gtar. On other

systems with a deficient tar, you should install GNU tar

first.

If you run into problems and need to file a bug report,

please report them to: http://mariadb.org/jira

See the instructions at

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb-community-bug-reporting

The basic commands that you must execute to install and use a

MariaDB binary distribution are:

shell> groupadd mysql

shell> useradd -g mysql mysql

shell> cd /usr/local

shell> gunzip < /path/to/mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz | tar xvf -

shell> ln -s full-path-to-mysql-VERSION-OS mysql

shell> cd mysql

shell> chown -R mysql .

shell> chgrp -R mysql .

shell> scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql

shell> chown -R root .

shell> chown -R mysql data

shell> bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &

Note

This procedure does not set up any passwords for MariaDB accounts.

After following the procedure, proceed to Section 2.13,

"Post-Installation Setup and Testing."

A more detailed version of the preceding description for

installing a binary distribution follows:

1. Add a login user and group for mysqld to run as:

shell> groupadd mysql

shell> useradd -g mysql mysql

These commands add the mysql group and the mysql user. The

syntax for useradd and groupadd may differ slightly on

different versions of Unix, or they may have different names

such as adduser and addgroup.

You might want to call the user and group something else

instead of mysql. If so, substitute the appropriate name in

the following steps.

2. Pick the directory under which you want to unpack the

distribution and change location into it. In the following

example, we unpack the distribution under /usr/local. (The

instructions, therefore, assume that you have permission to

create files and directories in /usr/local. If that directory

is protected, you must perform the installation as root.)

shell> cd /usr/local

3. Obtain a distribution file using the instructions at

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/where-to-download-mariadb/

The description below describes how to install a MariaDB tar file.

4. Unpack the distribution, which creates the installation

directory. Then create a symbolic link to that directory:

shell> gunzip < /path/to/mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz | tar xvf -

shell> ln -s full-path-to-mysql-VERSION-OS mysql

The tar command creates a directory named mysql-VERSION-OS.

The ln command makes a symbolic link to that directory. This

lets you refer more easily to the installation directory as

/usr/local/mysql.

With GNU tar, no separate invocation of gunzip is necessary.

You can replace the first line with the following alternative

command to uncompress and extract the distribution:

shell> tar zxvf /path/to/mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz

5. Change location into the installation directory:

shell> cd mysql

You will find several files and subdirectories in the mysql

directory. The most important for installation purposes are

the bin and scripts subdirectories:

+ The bin directory contains client programs and the

server. You should add the full path name of this

directory to your PATH environment variable so that your

shell finds the MariaDB programs properly. See Section

2.14, "Environment Variables."

+ The scripts directory contains the mysql_install_db

script used to initialize the mysql database containing

the grant tables that store the server access

permissions.

6. Ensure that the distribution contents are accessible to mysql.

If you unpacked the distribution as mysql, no further action

is required. If you unpacked the distribution as root, its

contents will be owned by root. Change its ownership to mysql

by executing the following commands as root in the

installation directory:

shell> chown -R mysql .

shell> chgrp -R mysql .

The first command changes the owner attribute of the files to

the mysql user. The second changes the group attribute to the

mysql group.

7. If you have not installed MariaDB before, you must create the

MariaDB data directory and initialize the grant tables:

shell> scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql

If you run the command as root, include the --user option as

shown. If you run the command while logged in as that user,

you can omit the --user option.

The command should create the data directory and its contents

with mysql as the owner.

After creating or updating the grant tables, you need to

restart the server manually.

8. Most of the MariaDB installation can be owned by root if you

like. The exception is that the data directory must be owned

by mysql. To accomplish this, run the following commands as

root in the installation directory:

shell> chown -R root .

shell> chown -R mysql data

9. If you want MariaDB to start automatically when you boot your

machine, you can copy support-files/mysql.server to the

location where your system has its startup files. More

information can be found in the support-files/mysql.server

script itself and at

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/starting-and-stopping-mariadb-automatically.

10. You can set up new accounts using the bin/mysql_setpermission

script if you install the DBI and DBD::mysql Perl modules. See

Section 4.6.14, "mysql_setpermission --- Interactively Set

Permissions in Grant Tables." For Perl module installation

instructions, see Section 2.15, "Perl Installation Notes."

11. If you would like to use mysqlaccess and have the MariaDB

distribution in some nonstandard location, you must change the

location where mysqlaccess expects to find the mysql client.

Edit the bin/mysqlaccess script at approximately line 18.

Search for a line that looks like this:

$MYSQL = '/usr/local/bin/mysql'; # path to mysql executable

Change the path to reflect the location where mysql actually

is stored on your system. If you do not do this, a Broken pipe

error will occur when you run mysqlaccess.

After everything has been unpacked and installed, you should test

your distribution. To start the MariaDB server, use the following

command:

shell> bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &

If you run the command as root, you must use the --user option as

shown. The value of the option is the name of the login account

that you created in the first step to use for running the server.

If you run the command while logged in as mysql, you can omit the

--user option.

If the command fails immediately and prints mysqld ended, you can

find some information in the host_name.err file in the data

directory.

More information about mysqld_safe can be found at

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mysqld_safe

Note

The accounts that are listed in the MariaDB grant tables initially

have no passwords. After starting the server, you should set up

passwords for them using the instructions in Section 2.13,

"Post-Installation Setup and Testing."