Alpine MariaDB Container

A lightweight MariaDB container based on Alpine Linux, optimized for production deployments with multi-architecture support.

Technical Specifications

• Base Image: Alpine Linux 3.20.2
• Database Engine: MariaDB 10.11.8
• Image Size: Optimized for minimal footprint
• Default Character Set: utf8mb4
• Default Collation: utf8mb4_general_ci

Supported Architectures

• amd64/x86_64: 64-bit Intel/AMD
• arm64v8/aarch64: 64-bit ARM (ARMv8)
• arm32v7/armhf: 32-bit ARM (ARMv7)

Container Configuration

Volume Mount Points

• /var/lib/mysql: Database files and data persistence
• /var/lib/mysql/mysql-bin: Binary logs
• /etc/my.cnf.d/: Custom configuration files

Network Ports

• 3306: Default MariaDB port (TCP)

Environment Variables

Required Variables

• MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: Root user password
• MYSQL_DATABASE: Name of the default database
• MYSQL_USER: Application user username
• MYSQL_PASSWORD: Application user password

Optional Variables

• MYSQL_CHARSET: Database character set (default: utf8mb4)
• MYSQL_COLLATION: Database collation (default: utf8mb4_general_ci)

Deployment Examples

Basic Docker Run

docker run -d \
  --name mariadb \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  -v mariadb_data:/var/lib/mysql \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=secure_root_password \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=appdb \
  -e MYSQL_USER=appuser \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=secure_user_password \
  hhftechnology/alpine-mariadb:latest

Docker Compose Configuration

version: '3.8'

services:
  mariadb:
    image: hhftechnology/alpine-mariadb:latest
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${MYSQL_DATABASE}
      MYSQL_USER: ${MYSQL_USER}
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_CHARSET: utf8mb4
      MYSQL_COLLATION: utf8mb4_general_ci
    volumes:
      - mariadb_data:/var/lib/mysql
      - ./custom.cnf:/etc/my.cnf.d/custom.cnf:ro
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  mariadb_data:
    driver: local

Docker Swarm Deployment

# Create required secrets
echo "secure_root_password" | docker secret create MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD -
echo "appdb" | docker secret create MYSQL_DATABASE -
echo "appuser" | docker secret create MYSQL_USER -
echo "secure_user_password" | docker secret create MYSQL_PASSWORD -

# Deploy the service
docker service create \
  --name mariadb \
  --secret MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD \
  --secret MYSQL_DATABASE \
  --secret MYSQL_USER \
  --secret MYSQL_PASSWORD \
  --mount type=volume,source=mariadb_data,target=/var/lib/mysql \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE_FILE=/run/secrets/MYSQL_DATABASE \
  -e MYSQL_USER_FILE=/run/secrets/MYSQL_USER \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/MYSQL_PASSWORD \
  --replicas 1 \
  hhftechnology/alpine-mariadb:latest

Performance Tuning

InnoDB Configuration

Add custom InnoDB settings in /etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf:

[mysqld]
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 1G
innodb_log_file_size = 256M
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
innodb_flush_method = O_DIRECT

Connection Pool Settings

[mysqld]
max_connections = 500
thread_cache_size = 128

Database Initialization

The container automatically executes the following during first startup:

1. .sh scripts in /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/
2. .sql files in /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/
3. .sql.gz files in /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/

Files are executed in alphabetical order.

Backup and Restore

Backup

docker exec mariadb \
  mysqldump -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} \
  --all-databases --single-transaction \
  | gzip > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

Restore

gunzip < backup.sql.gz | docker exec -i mariadb \
  mysql -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}

Character Set Support

Supports all MariaDB character sets and collations. To change defaults:

docker run -d \
  --name mariadb \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=secure_password \
  hhftechnology/alpine-mariadb:latest \
  --character-set-server=utf8mb4 \
  --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci

Security Considerations

1. Always use secrets management in production
2. Regularly update to the latest version
3. Use custom configuration to disable unused features
4. Implement network security policies
5. Regular backup scheduling
6. Monitor binary logs
7. Use SSL for remote connections

Monitoring & Logging

• Container logs: docker logs mariadb
• MariaDB error log: /var/lib/mysql/error.log
• Slow query log: /var/lib/mysql/slow-query.log
• Binary logs: /var/lib/mysql/mysql-bin.*

Support & Contributing

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Forum: HHF Technology Forum
• Contribute: Submit PRs to our GitHub repository

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.