MariaDB is a community-developed, drop-in replacement for MySQL with additional storage engines and performance improvements. MariaDB 11 is the latest major release with enhanced features. This guide installs and secures MariaDB 11 on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

Tested and valid on:

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS server
  • A user with sudo privileges

Step 1 – Install MariaDB

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y

Step 2 – Check Status

sudo systemctl status mariadb
mariadb --version

Step 3 – Run the Security Script

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Set a root password and answer Yes to all security questions.

Step 4 – Log In

sudo mariadb
SHOW DATABASES;
exit

Step 5 – Create a Database and User

sudo mariadb
CREATE DATABASE mydb;
CREATE USER 'myuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'SecurePass2026!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mydb.* TO 'myuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 6 – Enable at Boot

sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Step 7 – Tune Performance (optional)

Edit MariaDB config for better performance on small servers:

sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf

Add under [mysqld]:

innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
query_cache_type = 1
query_cache_size = 64M

Conclusion

MariaDB 11 is now installed and secured on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. It is fully compatible with MySQL client tools and connectors, making it a reliable drop-in replacement for most applications.