Tag: docker

Converting mySQL database to MariaDB: findings so far…

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On 02Nov2025 I was effectively forced to migrate my blog site’s database from mySQL to MariaDB. Fortunately open-source MariaDB is advertised as compatible with mySQL, so all I did during the migration was:

  1. Replace the mySQL database in the blog site Docker container with an empty MariaDB database by creating a new Docker volume for MariaDB.
  2. Start the blog container, restore the WordPress plugins, and restore the most recent database backup. Remember the MariaDB is compatible with mySQL!
  3. Restart the blog container.

I have now been running the blog site with MariaDB for a week, so what have I noticed?

  • The server is no longer running out of disk space due to frequently created large log files in the database volume (previously mySQL, but now MariaDB). Was there an underlying problem in mySQL?
  • I had been using MariaDB for my ownCloud database in a separate Docker container, but, now that I am running 2 instances of MariaDB in separate containers, there are NO interactions, even though the same database software is being used by both containers! Note that I could, in future, use different versions if necessary.
  • MariaDB feels that it is running faster than mySQL, but, while I have no data to prove this, it is no longer creating any log files, so my feeling may not be just subjective.
  • Not using mySQL means that I am no longer dependent on Oracle support for my databases. Note that I have, for a long time, been using software applications and platforms supported by open-source communities (LibreOffice, WordPress, Linux, Lulu.com, ownCloud, Eclipse, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, GraphViz, and now MariaDB).

Finally? My blog site is starting to behave itself again!

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I have been wondering whether my blog site issue posts should have had different subject lines:

  • “The Day after Tomorrow”
  • “Pride and Prejudice”
  • “The Abyss”
  • “The Temple of Doom”
  • and the final one: “The Great Escape”

I have fixed numerous problem along the way, all with no prior experience with Docker, but the main ones have been:

  • Obtaining a static IP address from my ISP.
  • Conversion of my server functions into separate Docker containers.
  • Building a user-specific Docker image with Apache2 and Perl for the “other” folders outside of WordPress.
  • Adding DNS server addresses to Docker.
  • Removing access restrictions to the /tmp areas of the databases.

I think I can say with more confidence that my blog site is becoming robust enough to be able to support my retirement next week! Yes, by the start of April 2025 I will have officially retired, but this site will still be up-and-running!