If you forget your root MariaDB password, it can be reset.

1. Stop the current MariaDB server instance, then restart it with an option to not ask for a password:

    

   sudo systemctl stop mariadb
   sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &
   

2. Reconnect to the MariaDB server with the MariaDB root account:

    

   mysql -u root
   

3. Use the following commands to reset root’s password. Replace password with a strong password:

    

   use mysql;
   update user SET PASSWORD=PASSWORD("password") WHERE USER='root';
   flush privileges;
   exit
   

4. Then restart MariaDB:

    

   sudo systemctl start mariadb
   

Tune MariaDBPermalink

MySQL Tuning Primer can be used to optimize your MariaDB server. Ideally, the MariaDB instance should have been operating for at least 24 hours before running the tuner. The longer the instance has been running, the better advice MySQL Tuner will give.

1. The script needs the bc language installed:

    

   sudo yum install bc
   

2. Download MySQL Tuner to your home directory and make it executable:

    

   wget http://www.day32.com/MySQL/tuning-primer.sh
   chmod u+x tuning-primer.sh
   

3. To run it:

    

   sudo ./tuning-primer.sh
   

   You will be asked if you would like to run the script against a different MySQL socket than /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock. Select N. You will then be asked if you have your login. Enter y, then the credentials when asked.

MySQL Tuning Primer is an excellent starting point to optimize a MariaDB server but it would be prudent to perform additional research for configurations tailored to the application(s) utilizing MariaDB on your Linode.