Installing the MariaDB Database Server

Let’s make your new server more usable by installing MariaDB on it:

sudo apt install mariadb-server

It cannot get easier than that! A SQL client is included with the server installation, so you can connect to the database and check that it is working:

sudo mariadb

Try running a “Hello, World” kind of query there:

Nice. Before we leave the client, create a new database (more on this later) and a user for it. It’s a good practice to not use the root user when consuming the database from your applications. Here’s what you need to execute:

CREATE DATABASE SnitzForums;

CREATE USER 'user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'Password123!';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON SnitzForums.* TO 'user'@'%';

Now you can leave the SQL client:

quit

We’ll connect remotely to the database using the above user later.

Securing the Database Server

You can use the database in its current state, but it’s always a good idea to secure the server. MariaDB includes a tool that easies this process:

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

You’ll be prompted with the root password which by default is empty, so just press enter. The tool asks you questions as you go. Feel free to configure your database server as you wish. For reference, here’s how I answered the questions:

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] n
 ... skipping.
 
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:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
 ... Success!
 
 
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!

Enabling Remote Database Access

Since you probably want to connect to this database remotely from your working computer or even another Raspberry Pi, you’ll have to enable remote access. Edit the following file using nano or vi:

sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf

Comment out the following line by adding a hash (#) character at the beginning as shown:

#bind-address = 127.0.0.1

That’s it. Save the changes, exit the text editor, and leave the machine by ending the SSH session:

exit

Now you are back into your working computer. If you happen to have the MariaDB client installed on your computer, you can try the remote connection right away (skip this if you don’t have the tool, or install it):

mariadb -h raspi01.local -u user -p

If you see Welcome to the MariaDB monitor, your database is ready!