MariaDB

What is MariaDB?

MariaDB is a community-developed fork of MySQL, created by MySQL's original developers after Oracle's acquisition of MySQL. It's drop-in compatible with MySQL's wire protocol and SQL syntax, so any app that speaks to MySQL (Laravel, WordPress, etc.) works against MariaDB unchanged. Laradock runs it as its own container, pre-wired with sane defaults.

Start MariaDB

docker compose up -d mariadb

Most web servers (nginx, apache) depend on php-fpm but not on mariadb, so start it explicitly alongside whatever else you need, for example:

docker compose up -d nginx mariadb workspace

Stop MariaDB

docker compose stop mariadb

This stops the container without deleting its data. To remove the container (data on disk is untouched, it lives under DATA_PATH_HOST): docker compose rm -f mariadb.

Configuration

All settings live in mariadb/defaults.env and can be overridden by adding the same line to your own .env (your .env always wins):

Variable	Default	What it does
MARIADB_VERSION	11.4	Image tag from MariaDB's Docker Hub.
MARIADB_DATABASE	default	Database created automatically on first boot.
MARIADB_USER	default	Non-root user created automatically.
MARIADB_PASSWORD	secret	Password for MARIADB_USER.
MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD	root	Password for the root user.
MARIADB_PORT	3306	Host-side port MariaDB is published on (host:container).
MARIADB_ENTRYPOINT_INITDB	./mariadb/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d	Folder of .sql/.sh files auto-run on first boot.

Change the MariaDB version

MARIADB_VERSION=10.11

docker compose build mariadb

Changing the major version against an existing data folder can break startup. If you hit that, point DATA_PATH_HOST at a fresh folder or back up and drop the old one.

Root access

Default root credentials are root / root (MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD).

docker compose exec mariadb bash
mariadb -uroot -proot

For the non-root app user instead: mariadb -udefault -psecret (or your own MARIADB_USER/MARIADB_PASSWORD).

Create multiple databases

Copy mariadb/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/createdb.sql.example to createdb.sql in the same folder, then uncomment/add your statements, following the same pattern MySQL uses:

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `your_db_1` COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci';
GRANT ALL ON `your_db_1`.* TO 'default'@'%';

This file only auto-runs the first time the container initializes its data folder (when DATA_PATH_HOST/mariadb doesn't exist yet). If your data folder already exists, run it manually instead:

docker compose exec mariadb bash
mariadb -uroot -proot < /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/createdb.sql

Tune server settings

mariadb/my.cnf is mounted into the container as /etc/mysql/conf.d/my.cnf. It ships with innodb_log_file_size = 4048M and innodb_strict_mode = 0; add any other [mysqld] directives there and rebuild.

Connect from your host machine

Inside Laradock, other containers reach MariaDB by container name: DB_HOST=mariadb. From your own machine (TablePlus, DBeaver, Sequel Ace), connect to localhost on MARIADB_PORT (3306 by default) with the credentials above.

Common issues

• "Access denied" right after first boot. The container needs a few seconds to initialize on a truly fresh DATA_PATH_HOST. Check docker compose logs mariadb for a ready message before connecting.
• Credential/database changes don't take effect. MARIADB_DATABASE, MARIADB_USER, and MARIADB_PASSWORD are only applied when the data folder is created for the first time. Change them afterward and either drop DATA_PATH_HOST/mariadb (data loss) or create the new user/database manually.
• Port already in use on your host. Another local MySQL/MariaDB (or another Laradock project) is already bound to 3306. Change MARIADB_PORT in .env and restart.
• App can't connect but the container is running. Confirm the app's .env uses DB_HOST=mariadb (the container name), not localhost, which only works from your host machine.
• Running both mysql and mariadb at once. They both default to host port 3306; give one a different MARIADB_PORT/MYSQL_PORT if you need both up simultaneously.

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Need the original MySQL instead? See MySQL. For the full list of services, see Getting Started.