How to Install MariaDB 11.4 LTS on Ubuntu 24.04 (Fresh Install, Secured)

Ubuntu’s default MariaDB package lags the upstream release by 1–2 major versions, which means missing features, slower release of security fixes, and shorter support windows. This guide shows how to install MariaDB on Ubuntu 24.04 from the official MariaDB APT repository — specifically the 11.4 LTS branch, which has support through 2029 — plus the secure-install ritual, sensible my.cnf defaults, and the gotchas if you’re migrating from MySQL.

TL;DR

Add MariaDB’s official repository with their setup script, apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client, run mariadb-secure-installation, create your application database and user, and set character-set-server = utf8mb4 in /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf. The whole sequence is about ten minutes on a fresh VPS.

Why use the official MariaDB repo (not Ubuntu’s)

• Current versions. Ubuntu 24.04 ships MariaDB 10.11. MariaDB 11.4 LTS is the current stable LTS with support through July 2029.
• Faster security patches. MariaDB Foundation ships fixes within days; Ubuntu’s process adds 1–4 weeks of backport delay.
• Identical packaging. The official packages keep Ubuntu’s package names, service names, and config layouts. You’re not switching distributions, just sources.

Step 1 — Add the MariaDB APT repository

MariaDB provides a one-shot setup script that picks the right repo for your distro version, installs the signing key, and writes the apt sources file:

curl -LsS https://r.mariadb.com/downloads/mariadb_repo_setup | sudo bash -s -- --mariadb-server-version="mariadb-11.4"

The --mariadb-server-version flag pins to the 11.4 LTS series. Without it, the script picks the latest stable, which might be a short-term release (11.5, 11.6) with shorter support.

If you’d rather inspect what the script does before running it, fetch and read it first: curl -LsS https://r.mariadb.com/downloads/mariadb_repo_setup > setup.sh && less setup.sh. It’s ~200 lines of bash and self-explanatory.

Step 2 — Install MariaDB server and client

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

The server starts immediately and is enabled to boot with systemd. Confirm:

sudo systemctl status mariadb
mariadb --version

You should see Server version: 11.4.x-MariaDB or similar.

Step 3 — Run the secure-installation wizard

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

It will ask seven questions. The defaults are sensible for almost every production install:

• Current root password? Press Enter — there isn’t one yet on a fresh install.
• Switch to unix_socket authentication? Yes. This is the modern MariaDB default: root connects via Unix socket as the OS root user, no password needed locally. Remote root access is disabled.
• Change the root password? No (since you’re using unix_socket).
• Remove anonymous users? Yes.
• Disallow root login remotely? Yes.
• Remove test database? Yes.
• Reload privilege tables now? Yes.

Step 4 — Create your application database and user

Drop into the MariaDB shell as root (now via unix_socket — no password):

sudo mariadb

Create a database and a user that owns it. Use a strong password — generate one with openssl rand -base64 24 if you don’t have a password manager open:

CREATE DATABASE myapp CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'myapp'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'long-random-password-here';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON myapp.* TO 'myapp'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

The utf8mb4 character set is essential — it’s the only one that supports the full Unicode range, including emoji and many Asian-language characters. The older utf8 (alias for utf8mb3) silently breaks on 4-byte characters. Always use utf8mb4 for new databases.

Step 5 — Set sensible defaults in my.cnf

Edit /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf and ensure these are set under [mariadbd]:

[mariadbd]
character-set-server   = utf8mb4
collation-server       = utf8mb4_unicode_ci
default-storage-engine = InnoDB

# InnoDB buffer pool: 50-70% of system RAM on a DB-dedicated server
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 1G

# Log slow queries above 1 second
slow_query_log = 1
slow_query_log_file = /var/log/mysql/slow.log
long_query_time = 1

# Bind only to localhost unless you need remote access
bind-address = 127.0.0.1

Restart for the changes to apply:

sudo systemctl restart mariadb

The innodb_buffer_pool_size is the single most impactful setting. On a 4 GB VPS dedicated to the database, set it to 2–3 GB. On a shared server running PHP + nginx + MariaDB on 2 GB, 512 MB is safer. Too high and the OS starts swapping; too low and you’re hitting disk constantly for queries that should be in memory.

Migrating from MySQL

MariaDB is a drop-in replacement for MySQL up through MySQL 5.7. For MySQL 8.0+, there are minor compatibility gaps (notably JSON functions and CTE behaviour) but most applications run unchanged. The migration is:

1. Dump every database from MySQL: mysqldump --all-databases --single-transaction --routines --triggers > backup.sql
2. Stop MySQL: sudo systemctl stop mysql
3. Install MariaDB (this guide).
4. Load the dump: sudo mariadb
5. Restart your applications — most won't notice the swap. WordPress, Laravel, Django, and Rails are all MariaDB-compatible without code changes.

Troubleshooting

"Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost'"

You're trying to connect as root via password but MariaDB's secure install switched you to unix_socket. Use sudo mariadb (sudo to switch OS users, no password needed). For password-based root access, edit the user inside the shell: ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA mysql_native_password USING PASSWORD('newpass');

"Port 3306 already in use"

Another database is bound to the port — usually a leftover MySQL install. Check with sudo lsof -i :3306, stop the offending service, and either remove it (sudo apt remove mysql-server) or move it to a different port via its own config.

Related guides

• Install MySQL on Ubuntu — the upstream alternative if you'd rather stay with Oracle's distribution.
• Restart MariaDB server — the most-needed operational command.
• MariaDB not starting — troubleshooting — what to check when systemd reports the service failed.
• Disable MySQL binary logging — relevant if you don't need replication and want to reclaim disk space.

For full configuration reference and release notes, the MariaDB Server documentation is canonical.