Install MariaDB in Debian Stretch

Note that this article for local installation of Maria DB or MySQL. It's intended to help you get up and running with the database locally and is not intended as a production tutorial. If you need to use either in a production environment, please contact a professional.

Step 1: update and install

1sudo apt update
2sudo apt upgrade
3sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

Step 2: (Optional) Run the secure installation. Doesn't hurt to see the options for future reference.

1sudo mysql_secure_installation

Step 3: allow running as root without a password:

1sudo mysql -u root -p

From inside the database shell:

use mysql;
update user set plugin='mysql_native_password' where user='root';
flush privileges;
quit;

Step 4: Install development libraries (this is needed, for example, to install the ruby mysql2 gem)

1sudo apt install libmariadbd-dev