MySQL (actually MariaDB) Setup Guide

MySQL is a well known free, open-source relational database service, and it's great. MariaDB is just MySQL (a fork of it), but better.

Install MariaDB

sudo apt install mariadb-server

Secure Install/Setup

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Run the above command, and follow the instructions, if you don't want to then follow mine.

Press enter for the current password, and again when asked if you want to set a root password. Enter the password, then press enter for everything else.

Create Admin user

sudo mysql

GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '<DESIRED_PASSWORD>' WITH GRANT OPTION;

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

exit;

Test it works

Simply try logging in as the admin account.

mysql -u admin -p

It should ask for a password, so enter your DESIRED_PASSWORD, and if you get mysql access, it's successful.

(Optional) Make it easier to access on command line

If you're working with a terminal, when calling mysql you'll need to enter a password each time. You can store the passwordwith a special .cnf file, making it faster to get into writing SQL.

Create/Edit the file with your editor of choice (mine's vim)

vim ~/.my.cnf

Add the following, with your credentials

[mysql]
user=<USERNAME>
password=<PASSWORD>

The above can be used for mysqldump, mysqladmin, and others too, by replacing the [mysql] block, with the related. e.g. [mysqldump].