Install MariaDB Server on WSL

MariaDB Server is one of the most popular open source relational databases and was created by the original developers of MySQL and guaranteed to stay open source. 

Prerequisites

Before installing MariaDB on WSL, please ensure you have WSL enabled on your Windows 10/11 system. 

Follow Install Windows Subsystem for Linux on a Non-System Drive to install WSL on a non-C drive. 

This tutorial provides steps to install MariaDB on WSL Ubuntu 20.04 distro. You can follow similar steps to install it in other Linux distros. 

Step by step guide

1. Open Ubuntu distro through WSL command:
   

   wsl -d "Ubuntu-20.04"
   # Or the following name if the name has no version in it
   wsl -d "Ubuntu"

   *Remember to change the distro name accordingly.

2. Update Ubuntu packages:
   

   sudo apt update

   You need to type user password.

3. Install MariaDB server using the following command:
   

   sudo apt install mariadb-server

   Type Y to continue when asked.

4. If you have installed MySQL before in the same WSL, the data will be overwritten:
   
   
5. Wait until the installation is completed. 
6. Verify MariaDB version:
   

   $ mariadb --version
   mariadb  Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.3.34-MariaDB, for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using readline 5.2

Test MariaDB

1. Start MariaDB service using the following commands:
   

   $ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start
    * Starting MariaDB database server mysqld                                                                       [ OK ]
   

2. Check the status of the service:
   

   $ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql status

   The output looks like the following:
   

    * /usr/bin/mysqladmin  Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.3.34-MariaDB, for debian-linux-gnu on x86_64
   Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.
   
   Server version          10.3.34-MariaDB-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
   Protocol version        10
   Connection              Localhost via UNIX socket
   UNIX socket             /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
   Uptime:                 48 sec
   
   Threads: 6  Questions: 61  Slow queries: 0  Opens: 33  Flush tables: 1  Open tables: 26  Queries per second avg: 1.270

3. Start security script prompts:
   

   sudo mysql_secure_installation

   The following are the output:

   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
   you haven't set the root password yet, the password will be blank,
   so you should just press enter here.
   
   Enter current password for root (enter for none):
   OK, successfully used password, moving on...
   
   Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB
   root user without the proper authorisation.
   
   You already have a root password set, so you can safely answer 'n'.
   
   Change the root password? [Y/n] n
    ... skipping.
   
   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] n
    ... skipping.
   
   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] n
    ... skipping.
   
   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!
   

4. Try MySQL prompt using the following command:
   

   sudo mariadb
   #or
   sudo mysql

5. Check databases:
   

   show databases;

   The output looks like the following screenshot:

   
   

6. Type exit; to exit the CLI.
7. Stop the service using the following command:
   

   $ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop