Install MariaDB on Fedora / RHEL

Open source SQL database, a community-developed drop-in replacement for MySQL.

Databasesqlrdbmsrelationaldatabaseacidmysql-compatible

Installation

Server (Fedora repositories) · dnf

$ sudo dnf install -y mariadb-server

MariaDB is Fedora's default MySQL-compatible database.

Verify the installation

Verify

$ mariadb --version

Service

Start

$ sudo systemctl start mariadb

Stop

$ sudo systemctl stop mariadb

Status

$ sudo systemctl status mariadb

Restart

$ sudo systemctl restart mariadb

On boot

$ sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Important files

Type	Path	Description
config	/etc/my.cnf	Main configuration file (includes /etc/my.cnf.d).
data	/var/lib/mysql	Data directory.
log	/var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log	Server log.

Default ports

3306

Command-line tools

mariadbInteractive SQL client (mysql is kept as a symlink).
mariadb-adminAdministrative client.
mariadb-secure-installationHardening script for the installation.

Uninstall

sudo systemctl stop mariadb
sudo dnf remove -y mariadb-server

The /var/lib/mysql directory remains; delete it manually to wipe everything.

Good to know

The data directory is initialized automatically on the first systemctl start mariadb.
Run mariadb-secure-installation after the first start to set the root password.
MariaDB is Fedora's default; the separate community-mysql package would conflict on port 3306.

Installation on Fedora

MariaDB is the default MySQL-compatible database on Fedora. sudo dnf install -y mariadb-server installs the server; enable and start it with sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb. The data directory is initialized automatically on first start.

First connection and security

After the first start, run sudo mariadb-secure-installation to set the root password, remove anonymous accounts, and drop the test database. Connect with sudo mariadb (unix_socket auth) or mariadb -u root -p once a password is set.

MariaDB vs MySQL on Fedora

Fedora also packages Oracle MySQL as community-mysql. The two cannot run on port 3306 at the same time; pick one. MariaDB is the upstream-default and integrates most smoothly with the distribution.