Migrating Your Django Blog from MySQL to MariaDB: A Step-by-Step Guide

Django Updated on April 23, 2025

Table of Contents

Why Migrate to MariaDB?

MariaDB, a fork of MySQL, is a drop-in replacement that offers performance improvements, lower memory usage, and a strong open-source ethos. For a Django blog app, MariaDB’s optimizations—such as thread pooling and an efficient query optimizer—make it ideal for read-heavy workloads like serving blog posts. On a 1 GB RAM server, MariaDB typically uses 5-20% less memory than MySQL, freeing resources for your Django app and Nginx.

Key benefits include:

  • Performance: Up to 15% faster in read/write workloads (SysBench, 2023).
  • Memory Efficiency: Thread pooling reduces overhead for concurrent users.
  • Compatibility: Works seamlessly with Django’s MySQL backend.
  • Features: Built-in Galera Cluster and Aria engine for future scalability.

If you’re running a Dockerized Django blog and noticing high memory usage (e.g., MySQL consuming ~38% of RAM), MariaDB is a compelling upgrade.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • A Django blog app using MySQL (e.g., MySQL 8.0.41).
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed.
  • A backup.sql file from your MySQL database (or access to create one).
  • A .env file with MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD and DB_NAME.
  • Basic familiarity with Docker commands and Django migrations.

Step 1: Back Up Your MySQL Database

To avoid data loss, create a dump of your MySQL database using mysqldump.

  • If MySQL is in Docker:
docker exec <mysql-container-name> mysqldump -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} ${DB_NAME} > backup.sql

Replace <mysql-container-name> with your container name (e.g., db).

  • If MySQL is local:
mysqldump -u root -p ${DB_NAME} > backup.sql
  • Verify the backup.sql file:
ls -l backup.sql
head backup.sql

Ensure it contains CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements.

Step 2: Set Up MariaDB in Docker

Update your docker-compose.yml to use MariaDB instead of MySQL.

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:11.4
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
       - mariadb_db:/var/lib/mysql
       - ./my.cnf:/etc/mysql/my.cnf:ro
    environment:
       - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
       - MYSQL_DATABASE=${DB_NAME}
    ports:
       - "3309:3306"
    env_file:
       - .env
    mem_limit: 512m
volumes:
  mariadb_db:

Start the MariaDB service:

docker-compose up -d db

Verify it’s running:

docker exec -it db mariadb -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} -e "SHOW DATABASES;"

Step 3: Import Data into MariaDB

Copy the backup.sql file to the MariaDB container:

docker cp backup.sql db:/backup.sql

Import the data:

docker exec db mariadb -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} ${DB_NAME} -e "SOURCE /backup.sql;"

Alternatively, pipe from the host:

cat backup.sql | docker exec -i db mariadb -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} ${DB_NAME}

Verify the import:

docker exec -it db mariadb -u root -p${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD} -e "SHOW TABLES FROM ${DB_NAME};"

If you encounter errors (e.g., “No such file or directory”), ensure the file was copied correctly:

docker exec db ls -l /backup.sql

Step 4: Optimize MariaDB for Low Memory

On a 1 GB RAM server, configure MariaDB to use ~300-450 MB. Create a my.cnf file:

[mysqld]
port = 3306
bind-address = 0.0.0.0
max_connections = 50
thread_cache_size = 8
table_open_cache = 128
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
innodb_log_file_size = 64M
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
query_cache_type = 1
query_cache_size = 16M
thread_stack = 192K
thread_pool_size = 4
performance_schema = 0
skip-name-resolve

Mount it in docker-compose.yml (as shown above) and restart:

docker-compose up -d

Check memory usage:

docker stats db

Step 5: Test Your Django Blog

Ensure your Django settings.py uses the MySQL backend (compatible with MariaDB):

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': os.getenv('DB_NAME'),
        'USER': 'root',
        'PASSWORD': os.getenv('MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD'),
        'HOST': 'db',
        'PORT': '3306',
    }
}

Run migrations:

docker exec django-app python manage.py migrate

Access your blog (e.g., http://localhost:8001) and verify posts, users, and comments work as expected.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • “No such file or directory”: Ensure backup.sql is copied to /backup.sql in the container (docker cp) or pipe it directly (cat backup.sql | docker exec ...).
  • SQL Errors: Check backup.sql for MySQL 8.0-specific syntax. Re-run mysqldump with --compatible=mysql80.
  • High Memory Usage: Verify my.cnf settings and enforce mem_limit: 512m in Docker Compose.
  • Django Errors: Confirm database connection settings and run migrations.

For persistent issues, check MariaDB logs:

docker logs db

Conclusion

Migrating your Django blog from MySQL to MariaDB is a straightforward process that boosts performance and reduces memory usage, especially on resource-constrained servers. By backing up your data, setting up MariaDB in Docker, importing your database, and optimizing with a custom my.cnf, you can achieve a lean, efficient setup. MariaDB’s compatibility with Django and lower memory footprint (~300-450 MB vs. MySQL’s ~350-500 MB) make it an excellent choice for small-to-medium blogs.

Test thoroughly after migration, monitor memory usage, and consider adding caching (e.g., Redis) for further performance gains. If you hit roadblocks, tools like docker logs and MariaDB’s error logs will guide you to a smooth deployment.

Happy blogging with MariaDB!