Installing MySQL or MariaDB

MySQL and MariaDB are the most widely used relational databases for web applications. MariaDB is a drop-in replacement for MySQL with better performance on many workloads.

Install MariaDB (Recommended)

Ubuntu/Debian:

apt update
apt install mariadb-server -y
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl start mariadb

CentOS/AlmaLinux/Rocky:

dnf install mariadb-server -y
systemctl enable mariadb
systemctl start mariadb

Secure the Installation

mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to: set a root password, remove anonymous users, disable remote root login, and remove the test database.

Create a Database and User

mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE myapp;
CREATE USER 'myuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp.* TO 'myuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Basic MySQL Commands

SHOW DATABASES;
USE myapp;
SHOW TABLES;
SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 10;
DROP DATABASE testdb;

Install MySQL 8 Instead (if required)

apt install mysql-server -y

The commands above work identically for MySQL 8.

Backup a Database

mysqldump -u root -p myapp > myapp_backup.sql

Restore a Database

mysql -u root -p myapp < myapp_backup.sql