--- title: "Installing MariaDB Enterprise Kubernetes Operator on Ubuntu VM" publish_date: 2025-09-16 author: "Susmeet Khaire" tags: - name: "Docker" url: "/resources/blog/tag/docker.md" - name: "Kubernetes" url: "/resources/blog/tag/kubernetes-2.md" - name: "Ubuntu" url: "/resources/blog/tag/ubuntu.md" --- # Installing MariaDB Enterprise Kubernetes Operator on Ubuntu VM ### Introduction [MariaDB Enterprise Kubernetes Operator](https://staging-mdb.com/products/enterprise/components/#operator) simplifies the deployment and management of **MariaDB databases** within a Kubernetes environment. This guide walks you through installing the operator on an **Ubuntu VM**, which can be used for testing before implementing in a production environment. ### Overview Before proceeding, ensure you have: **Ubuntu VM** (20.04 or later) 1. Install **Docker** 2. Install **Kubernetes cluster** (**Minikube** for testing) 3. Install **kubectl** to interact with the cluster 4. Add customer credentials access to docker.mariadb.com 5. Installed **Helm** kubernetes package manager 6. Add **MariaDB Enterprise Operator** to helm repository 7. Install **MariaDB Enterprise Operator** 8. Deploy a MariaDB Instance 9. Verify Deployment 10. Interacting with the instance ### Installation Instructions 1. Install **Docker** to run minikube Official guide: [Ubuntu](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/) ``` -- Add current user to sudoers (if not already added)su -adduser skhaire sudo-- Run the following command to uninstall all conflicting packages:for pkg in docker.io docker-doc docker-compose docker-compose-v2 podman-docker containerd runc; do sudo apt-get remove $pkg; done-- Setup the Docker apt repository.-- Add Docker's official GPG key:sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install ca-certificates curlsudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyringssudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.ascsudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc-- Add the repository to Apt sources:echo \ "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \ $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}") stable" | \ sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/nullsudo apt-get update-- Install the latest versionsudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin-- Verify that the installation is successful by running the hello-world image:sudo docker run hello-world ``` 2\. Install **minikube** & start minikube minikube sets up a local Kubernetes cluster Offical guide: [minikube start](https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/start/) ``` curl -LO https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/latest/download/minikube-linux-amd64 sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube && rm minikube-linux-amd64minikube start ``` **Note**: In case of ‘permission denied’ error as below, *skhaire@Ubuntu:~$ minikube start* - *minikube v1.36.0 on Ubuntu 22.04 (vbox/amd64)* - *Unable to pick a default driver. Here is what was considered, in preference order:* - *docker: Not healthy: “docker version –format {{.Server.Os}}-{{.Server.Version}}:{{.Server.Platform.Name}}” exit status 1: permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: Get “*[*http://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/v1.49/version*](https://mariadbcorp.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/~622a91c215521d00726f0952/pages/3085729797/Installing+MariaDB+Enterprise+Kubernetes+Operator+on+Ubuntu+VM#)*“: dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied* Add your user to ‘docker’ group ``` sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && newgrp docker ``` 3\. Install **kubectl** Official guide: [Install and Set Up kubectl on Linux](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/install-kubectl-linux/) ``` sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupgcurl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.33/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpgsudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpgecho 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.33/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.listsudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list # helps tools such as command-not-found to work correctlysudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install -y kubectl ``` 4\. Customer access to [docker.mariadb.com](http://docker.mariadb.com/) - Navigate to the [Customer Download Token at the MariaDB Customer Portal](https://customers.mariadb.com/downloads/token/). - Log in using your [MariaDB ID](https://id.mariadb.com/). - Copy the Customer Download Token to use as the password when logging in to the MariaDB Enterprise Docker Registry. ``` kubectl create secret docker-registry mariadb-enterprise \ --docker-server=docker.mariadb.com \ --docker-username= \ --docker-password= ``` 5\. Install **helm** ``` curl -fsSL -o get_helm.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3chmod 700 get_helm.sh ./get_helm.sh -- Check installation helm version ``` 6\. Add MariaDB Enterprise Operator Helm repository to Helm configuration and Install **CRDs** (Custom Resource Definitions) for the MariaDB Enterprise Operator into your Kubernetes cluster. ``` helm repo add mariadb-enterprise-operator https://operator.mariadb.comhelm install mariadb-enterprise-operator-crds mariadb-enterprise-operator/mariadb-enterprise-operator-crds ``` 7\. Install **mariadb-enterprise-operator** a. Create a directory ``` mkdir mariadb-enterprise-operatorcd mariadb-enterprise-operator ``` b. Create a values.yaml file ``` imagePullSecrets: - name: mariadb-enterprisewebhook: imagePullSecrets: - name: mariadb-enterprisecertController: imagePullSecrets: - name: mariadb-enterprise ``` c. Now proceed to install the operator ``` helm install mariadb-enterprise-operator mariadb-enterprise-operator/mariadb-enterprise-operator -f values.yaml ``` 8\. Deploy a standalone instance of **MariaDB Enterprise Server** - Create secret.yaml file for the root password ``` apiVersion: v1kind: Secretmetadata: name: mariadbstringData: password: MariaDB11! ``` - Create the secret ``` kubectl apply -f secret.yaml ``` - Create mariadb.yaml for deployment ``` apiVersion: enterprise.mariadb.com/v1alpha1kind: MariaDBmetadata: name: mariadbspec: rootPasswordSecretKeyRef: name: mariadb key: password image: docker.mariadb.com/enterprise-server:latest imagePullPolicy: Always imagePullSecrets: - name: mariadb-enterprise replicas: 1 port: 3306 storage: size: 1Gi myCnf: | [mariadb] bind-address=* default_storage_engine=InnoDB binlog_format=row innodb_autoinc_lock_mode=2 innodb_buffer_pool_size=800M max_allowed_packet=256M resources: requests: cpu: 500m memory: 1Gi limits: memory: 1Gi metrics: enabled: true ``` - Deploy the instance ``` kubectl apply -f mariadb.yaml ``` 9\. Check the status of the deployment/troubleshooting - Monitor the status of the pod mariadb-0 until it transitions to ‘Running ``` kubectl get pods ``` - For more details about the deployment, run ``` kubectl describe pod/mariadb-0 ``` - For mariadb logs from the pod ``` kubectl logs mariadb-0 ``` 10\. Interact with your newly installed mariadb server on a kubernetes cluster ``` kubectl exec -it mariadb-0 -- /bin/bashmariadb -uroot -pMariaDB11! ``` **Note:** If you encounter any issues with deployment like the following: ``` kubectl get pods Type Reason Age From Message ---- ------ ---- ---- ------- Normal Scheduled 3m6s default-scheduler Successfully assigned default/mariadb-0 to minikube Normal Killing 35s (x3 over 2m15s) kubelet Container mariadb failed startup probe, will be restarted Normal Pulled 34s (x4 over 3m3s) kubelet Container image "docker.mariadb.com/enterprise-server:latest" already present on machine Normal Created 34s (x4 over 3m2s) kubelet Created container: mariadb Normal Started 34s (x4 over 3m2s) kubelet Started container mariadb Warning Unhealthy 5s (x10 over 2m35s) kubelet Startup probe failed: ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES) ``` This indicates that there may be issues with Minikube installation itself. To resolve this, follow these steps to delete the Minikube cluster and start fresh: ``` minikube stopminikube delete --all --purge ``` ### Getting Started The MariaDB Enterprise Kubernetes Operator is available with a MariaDB Enterprise Platform Plus subscription. Customers with that subscription plan can [download the operator here](https://staging-mdb.com/downloads/enterprise/enterprise-kubernetes-operator/). ### Conclusion Running **MariaDB in Kubernetes** offers several advantages, like 1. **High Availability & Fault Tolerance** - Kubernetes ensures **automatic failover** and **self-healing** of MariaDB instances. - StatefulSets maintain **persistent storage**, preventing data loss during pod restarts. 2. **Scalability & Load Balancing** - Easily scale MariaDB instances **horizontally** or **vertically** based on workload demands. - Kubernetes **load balancing** distributes traffic efficiently across database replicas. 3. **Automated Deployment & Management** - **MariaDB Kubernetes Operator** simplifies database provisioning, backups, and upgrades. - Helm charts allow **declarative configuration**, reducing manual intervention. 4. **Improved Security & Isolation** - Kubernetes **network policies** and **RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)** enhance security. - Secrets management ensures **secure credential storage** for database authentication. 5. **Efficient Resource Utilization** - Kubernetes optimizes **CPU and memory allocation**, preventing resource wastage. - Containers ensure **consistent performance** across different environments. Hopefully, this blog helps you to get started with deploying the **mariadb-enterprise-operator** in kubernetes.