Home » Categories » Multiple Categories

How To Create and Manage Databases in MySQL and MariaDB on a Cloud Server

What are MySQL and MariaDB?

MySQL and MariaDB are relational database management systems. These tools can be used on your server to manage the data from many different programs. Both implement forms of the SQL querying language, and either can be used on a cloud server.

This guide will cover how to create a database using these tools. This is a fundamental skill needed to manage your data in an SQL environment. We will also cover several other aspects of database management.

For the purposes of this guide, we will be using an Ubuntu 12.04 server on a small server instance. However, everything should translate directly to other distributions.

How to Create a Database in MySQL and MariaDB

To begin, sign into MySQL or MariaDB with the following command:
mysql -u root -p
Enter the administrator password you set up during installation. You will be given a MySQL/MariaDB prompt.

We can now create a database by typing the following command:
CREATE DATABASE new_database;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
To avoid errors in the event that the database name we've chosen already exists, use the following command:
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS new_database;
Query OK, 1 row affected, 1 warning (0.01 sec)
The warning indicates that the database already existed and no new database was created.

If we leave the "IF NOT EXISTS" option off, and the database already exists, we will receive the following error:
ERROR 1007 (HY000): Can't create database 'other_database'; database exists

How to View Databases in MySQL and MariaDB

To view a list of the current databases that you have created, use the following command:
SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
| new_database       |
| other_database     |
| performance_schema |
+--------------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The "information_schema", "performance_schema", and "mysql" databases are set up by default in most cases and should be left alone unless you know what you are doing.

How to Change Databases in MySQL and MariaDB

Any operations performed without explicitly specifying a database will be performed on the currently selected database.

Find out which database is currently selected with the following command:
SELECT database();
+------------+
| database() |
+------------+
| NULL       |
+------------+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)
We have received a result of "null". This means that no database is currently selected.

To select a database to use for subsequent operations, use the following command:
USE new_database;
Database changed
We can see that the database has been selected by re-issuing the command we ran previously:
SELECT database();
+--------------+
| database()   |
+--------------+
| new_database |
+--------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

How to Delete a Database in MySQL and MariaDB

To delete a database in MySQL or MariaDB, use the following command:
DROP DATABASE new_database;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
This operation cannot be reversed! Make certain you wish to delete before pressing enter!

If this command is executed on a database that does not exist, the following error message will be given:
DROP DATABASE new_database;
ERROR 1008 (HY000): Can't drop database 'new_database'; database doesn't exist
To prevent this error, and ensure that the command executes successfully regardless of if the database exists, call it with the following syntax:
DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS new_database;
Query OK, 0 rows affected, 1 warning (0.00 sec)
The warning indicates that the database did not exist, but the command executes successfully anyways.

Conclusion

You now have the basic skills necessary to manage databases using MySQL and MariaDB. There are many things to learn, but you now have a good starting point to manage your databases.
Attachments Attachments
There are no attachments for this article.
Related Articles RSS Feed
How To Manage Packages In Ubuntu and Debian With Apt-Get & Apt-Cache
Viewed 6907 times since Fri, Dec 27, 2013
A Basic MySQL Tutorial
Viewed 2487 times since Thu, Dec 26, 2013
How To Install Git on Ubuntu 12.04
Viewed 6355 times since Mon, Dec 23, 2013
How To Manage Content Using the Ghost Blogging Platform
Viewed 8950 times since Sun, Dec 29, 2013
How To Use a Simple Bash Script To Restart Server Programs
Viewed 3349 times since Fri, Dec 27, 2013
How To Install Z Shell (zsh) on a Cloud Server
Viewed 2816 times since Fri, Dec 27, 2013
How To Use SuExec in Apache to run CGI Scripts on an Ubuntu
Viewed 3717 times since Mon, Dec 30, 2013
How To Set Up Apache Virtual Hosts on Debian 7
Viewed 3387 times since Fri, Dec 27, 2013
How To Write a Linux Daemon with Node.js
Viewed 10323 times since Sun, Dec 29, 2013