[BlueOnyx:21863] 5209R: MariaDB-10.1.31 & 10.2.13 - important info prior to release

[Michael Stauber]

Hi all,

With a bit of encouragement from Dirk (thank you!) I looked at providing
updated MariaDB PKGs for 5209R again.

There are some web applications out there that start to demand
MariaDB-10.2 and it would be good to offer it.

However: Both for the latest version of MariaDB 10.1 and 10.2 I
encountered a problem of note that might affect some of you:

We can no longer have the MariaDB database directory anywhere else but
/var/lib/mysql/

During the BlueOnyx CD install we usually move it to /home/mysql and put
a symbolic link in place that points /var/lib/mysql to /home/mysql

That is no longer an option.

MariaDB refuses to start if the databases are not somewhere on /var.
That applies even if "ProtectHome=true" is modified in the Systemd unit
file, which in the past allowed us to do it.

So what do we do if /var is too small to hold all the databases?

The solution is fairly simple: We leave the DBs at /home/mysql, but
mount it to /var/lib/mysql via /etc/fstab.

The two PKGs that will soon appear in the shop ...

5209R-MariaDB-10.1.31-1.pkg
5209R-MariaDB-10.2.13-1.pkg

... will take care of this during install. They make a backup of your
existing MySQL DBs to /home/mysql-backup.<date>/ and if need be the PKGs
will either add the provisions for mounting /home/mysql to
/var/lib/mysql to /etc/fstab. On Aventurin{e} or installs without
dedicated /var partition we will simply move /home/mysql to
/var/lib/mysql and don't need to do anything else.

Upon install via the GUI the PKGs will also inform about these
modifications in a notice that is shown prior to the install really
kicking in.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber