How to replace MySQL with MariaDB in cpanel

MariaDB is an enhanced drop-in replacement for MySQL. MySQL 5.1 is compatible with MariaDB 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. MySQL 5.5 is compatible with MariaDB 5.5.

Make sure to save all existing data just in case there are any issues.

    cp -Rf /var/lib/mysql /var/lib/mysql-old
    mv /etc/my.cnf /etc/my.cnf-old

Disable the targets so cPanel no longer handles MySQL updates

The following will mark the versions of MySQL we distribute as uninstalled so they are no longer maintained by cPanel/WHM

    /scripts/update_local_rpm_versions –edit target_settings.MySQL50 uninstalled
    /scripts/update_local_rpm_versions –edit target_settings.MySQL51 uninstalled
    /scripts/update_local_rpm_versions –edit target_settings.MySQL55 uninstalled

Remove existing MySQL RPM’s so theres a clean slate for MariaDB

The below command will uninstall the MySQL RPM’s!

    /scripts/check_cpanel_rpms –fix –targets=MySQL50,MySQL51,MySQL55

Create a yum repository for MariaDB

    vi /etc/yum.repos.d/MariaDB.repo

place the following inside of it depending on the DISTRO (https://downloads.mariadb.org/mariadb/repositories/):

    [mariadb]
    name = MariaDB
    baseurl = http://yum.mariadb.org/5.5.29/centos6-amd64/
    gpgkey=https://yum.mariadb.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-MariaDB
    gpgcheck=1

Remove php from the /etc/yum.conf file then run the following commands

    yum install MariaDB-server MariaDB-client MariaDB-devel
    /etc/init.d/mysql start
    mysql_upgrade
    /etc/init.d/mysql restart

Add php back to the /etc/yum.conf file to ensure future php updates don’t get clobbered

Rebuild easyapache/php to ensure modules are intact/working

    /scripts/easyapache –build