How to Install MariaDB on AlmaLinux 10

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MariaDB is a freely available open-source Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL). It is a drop-in replacement for MySQL, known for its performance, reliability, and rich features, making it a popular choice for many developers and system administrators.

Prerequisites

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Before installing MariaDB on AlmaLinux 10, ensure you have the following:

• A system running AlmaLinux 10 with root or sudo access.

• A working internet connection to download packages.

• SELinux and firewall are appropriately configured (optional but recommended).

Update the System

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Before proceeding with any installation, it's a good practice to update the system to ensure all packages are current and compatible. This reduces the chance of conflicts or dependency issues.

Run the following command to update all packages:

dnf update -y

Install MariaDB

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To install MariaDB, run the following commands,

dnf install mariadb mariadb-server

Output:

[root@vps ~]# dnf install mariadb mariadb-server
Last metadata expiration check: 0:13:43 ago on Wed Jun  4 19:14:51 2025.
Dependencies resolved.
=============================================================================================================================================================================
 Package                                              Architecture                   Version                                         Repository                         Size
=============================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
 mariadb                                              x86_64                         3:10.11.11-1.el10                               appstream                         1.6 M
 mariadb-server                                       x86_64                         3:10.11.11-1.el10                               appstream                         9.9 M
Installing dependencies:
 checkpolicy                                          x86_64                         3.8-1.el10                                      appstream                         357 k
 libaio                                               x86_64                         0.3.111-22.el10                                 baseos                             24 k
 mariadb-common                                       noarch                         3:10.11.11-1.el10                               appstream                          35 k
 mariadb-connector-c

Start and Enable MariaDB Service

Start the MariaDB service and enable it to automatically start on boot by running the following commands,

systemctl enable --now mariadb
systemctl start mariadb

Check the MariaDB Service

To verify that the MariaDB service is running:

systemctl status mariadb

Output:

[root@vps ~]# systemctl status mariadb
● mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.11 database server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2025-06-04 19:42:37 UTC; 4s ago
 Invocation: 24dd08e1f00c480ba7257eed9c0c033d
       Docs: man:mariadbd(8)
             https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/
    Process: 2139 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/mariadb-check-socket (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 2162 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/mariadb-prepare-db-dir mariadb.service (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 2261 ExecStartPost=/usr/libexec/mariadb-check-upgrade (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 2249 (mariadbd)
     Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..."
      Tasks: 11 (limit: 23188)
     Memory: 207M (peak: 231.5M)
        CPU: 545ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/mariadb.service
             └─2249 /usr/libexec/mariadbd --basedir=/usr

Securing MariaDB

Secure your MariaDB installation by running the security script,

mysql_secure_installation

Output:

[root@vps ~]# 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
haven't set the root password yet, you should just press enter here.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): 
OK, successfully used password, moving on...

Setting the root password or using the unix_socket ensures that nobody
can log into the MariaDB root user without the proper authorisation.

You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.

Switch to unix_socket authentication [Y/n] y
Enabled successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
 ... Success!

You already have your root account protected, so you can safely answer 'n'.

Change the root password? [Y/n] y
New password:
Re-enter new password:

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!

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!

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!

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!

Verify Installation

Once secured, you can connect to MariaDB and review the existing databases on your server by running,

mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW DATABASES;

Output:

[root@vps ~]# mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW DATABASES;"
Enter password: 
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
| performance_schema |
| sys                |
+--------------------+

Conclusion

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You have now successfully installed and secured MariaDB on AlmaLinux 10. The database service is up and running, configured to start on boot, and protected with a root password and secure defaults. MariaDB is now ready for your application or development use.