How to Connect MariaDB Database to Your Laravel Application

MariaDB is an open-source database management system that offers improved performance, security, and flexibility. When used with Laravel, a popular PHP framework, developers can use MariaDB’s features to build powerful web applications.

Connecting a MariaDB database to a Laravel application can be challenging for some developers, especially those who are new to the process. However, with the right guidance and resources, it is possible to successfully integrate MariaDB with Laravel.

This blog post guides you through connecting a MariaDB database to a Laravel application, covering the system requirements of MariaDB, configuring MariaDB for Laravel, and testing the connection. Let’s get started!

Brief Overview of MariaDB

MariaDB is an open-source relational database management system that is widely used by web developers. It is a fork of the MySQL database and offers many advanced features, including improved performance, better security, and more flexibility in terms of configuration.

MariaDB uses SQL to manage and manipulate data, providing developers with a familiar and flexible environment for working with data. MariaDB is committed to maintaining compatibility with MySQL, allowing for seamless migration of existing MySQL databases.

With its focus on performance optimization and advanced features, MariaDB can handle substantial workloads efficiently. This makes it an excellent choice for applications ranging from small-scale projects to enterprise-level systems.

Key Features of MariaDB

Some of the key features of MariaDB that make it a popular choice for web developers include:

1. Speed: MariaDB is designed for fast performance, allowing for quick data retrieval and manipulation.
2. Scalability: MariaDB can handle large amounts of data efficiently, making it suitable for both small and large projects.
3. Security: MariaDB has a strong focus on security, and the team works quickly to address critical security issues when they are discovered.
4. Rich ecosystem: MariaDB has a wide range of plugins and storage engines, making it versatile for many use cases.
5. Standard querying language: MariaDB uses a popular querying language, making it easy for developers to work with.
6. Licensing: MariaDB is licensed under the GPL, LGPL, or BSD, ensuring that it remains free and open-source.

Major Updates of MariaDB Database

Here’s a table showcasing the history of major MariaDB version updates, including their end-of-standard support and end-of-life date.

System Requirements of MariaDB

The MariaDB Enterprise Server has certain system requirements that are recommended for optimal performance. These requirements are outlined below.

Benefits of Using Laravel With MariaDB

Using Laravel with MariaDB can provide many benefits for web developers. Some of these benefits include:

• Simplicity: Laravel makes it easy to interact with databases, including MariaDB. This means that developers can easily connect their Laravel application to a MariaDB database and take advantage of its powerful features.
• Flexibility: MariaDB supports more storage engines than MySQL, providing developers with greater flexibility when working with data in their Laravel application.
• Scalability: MariaDB’s advanced Galera cluster technology eliminates slave lag and lost transactions, reduces client latencies, and improves node read scalability. This makes it an excellent choice for Laravel applications that need to handle large amounts of data.
• Security: Both Laravel and MariaDB have a strong focus on security. Laravel provides built-in security features such as authentication and authorization, while MariaDB offers robust security measures to protect data. Using these two technologies together can help developers build secure web applications.

Run Laravel With MariaDB Database

Deploying a Laravel application with a MariaDB database involves several steps. I’ll provide you with a general overview of the process.

Step 1: Create a New Laravel Project

Open your terminal and run the following commands to create a new Laravel project:

composer global require laravel/installer
laravel new YourProjectName
cd YourProjectName

Step 2: Configure the Database

Open the .env file in your project root directory and configure your MariaDB database connection by updating the following lines with your database information:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password

Step 3: Create Migrations and Models

Laravel uses migrations to manage your database schema. To create a new migration and model for a sample entity (e.g., Post), run the following command:

php artisan make:model Post -m

This will create a migration file in the database/migrations directory and a model in the app directory.

Step 4: Edit the Migration

Open the migration file (e.g., xxxx_xx_xx_create_posts_table.php) in the database/migrations directory and define the schema for your posts table. For example:

public function up()
{
Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->id();
$table->string('title');
$table->text('content');
$table->timestamps();
});
}

Step 5: Run the Migration

Apply the migration to create the database table by running the following command:

php artisan migrate

Step 6: Create Routes and Controllers

Create routes in the routes/web.php file and corresponding controllers for your application. For example, to create a route for displaying posts, add the following line to routes/web.php:

Route::get('/posts', 'PostController@index');

Step 7: Create a Controller

Generate a controller using Artisan by running the following command:

php artisan make:controller PostController

Then, define the logic for fetching and displaying posts in the PostController.

Step 8: Create Views

Create Blade views in the resources/views directory to render your application’s UI.

Step 9: Run Your Application

Start the Laravel development server by running the following command:

php artisan serve

Visit http://localhost:8000/posts in your browser to see your application in action.

Step 10: Add Data to the Database

You can either use seeders or manually add data to your database using the Laravel Artisan command tinker. To add data manually, run the following command:

php artisan tinker

Inside the tinker shell, you can create and save a new post like this:

$post = new App\Models\Post;
$post->title = 'Sample Title';
$post->content = 'Sample Content';
$post->save();
exit;

Configure MariaDB with Cloudways

To configure MariaDB with Cloudways, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log in to Cloudways Platform

Click on View all Servers after logging in to your account and choose your target server.

Step 2: Select Settings & Packages

From the left menu bar, select the Settings & Packages option and click on the Packages tab.

Step 3: Choose MariaDB Version

Choose your preferred version of MariaDB from the given choices and click on Save Changes.

And that’s it! You have successfully configured MariaDB with Cloudways.

Supported Versions of MariaDB

Cloudways supports several versions of MariaDB, including MariaDB 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6. However, it’s important to note that newer servers and servers with the Debian 10 distribution come with MariaDB 10.4 as the default database.

Summary

In conclusion, connecting MariaDB to Laravel is straightforward because MariaDB is fully compatible with the MySQL driver that Laravel uses by default. The entire configuration lives in your .env file, and no code changes to your models, migrations, or queries are required.

The steps are: create your Laravel project, configure the .env file with your MariaDB credentials using DB_CONNECTION=mysql, create models and migrations, run php artisan migrate to verify the connection, and build your application using Eloquent and the query builder as normal.

MariaDB brings performance advantages, better open-source licensing, and more storage engine flexibility to Laravel applications. For most web projects, it is a strong default choice over standard MySQL.

Inshal Ali

Inshal is a Content Marketer at Cloudways. With background in computer science, skill of content and a whole lot of creativity, he helps business reach the sky and go beyond through content that speaks the language of their customers. Apart from work, you will see him mostly in some online games or on a football field.

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