MariaDB

This guide walks you through deploying MariaDB to Magic Containers, either as a standalone container or as part of a multi-container app alongside your application. You’ll need a bunny.net account with Magic Containers enabled.

Quickstart

Create a new app

Go to the bunny.net dashboard, select Magic Containers, and click Add App. Select Single region deployment.

Databases should use single region deployment with a single instance. Each pod gets its own dedicated volume with no data replication — this applies both across regions and within the same region. Scaling to multiple pods or regions would result in separate, isolated databases each with their own data.

Add the MariaDB container

Click Add Container and configure the image:

Registry: Docker Hub
Image: library/mariadb
Tag: 11

Magic Containers will automatically detect the required endpoint and environment variables for the image. Configure the environment variables as needed:

MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD = a strong root password
MARIADB_USER = app
MARIADB_PASSWORD = a strong password
MARIADB_DATABASE = app

Add a persistent volume

In the Volumes section of the container settings, add a volume:

Name: mariadb-data
Mount path: /var/lib/mysql

This ensures your database files persist across restarts and redeployments. Without a volume, all data is lost when the container stops.See persistent volumes for more details on volume behavior and pricing.

Deploy

Review your settings and click Confirm and Create.

Always set strong passwords for MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD and MARIADB_PASSWORD, even if the database is not exposed externally. Other containers in the same pod can access the network, and a password protects against accidental or unauthorized access.

Environment variables

The official MariaDB image supports these environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
`MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD`	Root user password (required)	-
`MARIADB_USER`	Additional user to create	-
`MARIADB_PASSWORD`	Password for the additional user	-
`MARIADB_DATABASE`	Default database created on first start	-

Connect from your app

In a multi-container setup, your app and MariaDB share the same localhost network. Connect using 127.0.0.1 and the default port 3306.

Connection string
Node.js
Go
Python
PHP

mysql://app:YOUR_PASSWORD@127.0.0.1:3306/app

import mysql from "mysql2/promise";

const connection = await mysql.createConnection(
  process.env.DATABASE_URL
);

const [rows] = await connection.execute("SELECT NOW()");

import (
	"database/sql"
	"os"

	_ "github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
)

db, err := sql.Open("mysql", os.Getenv("DATABASE_URL"))
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}
defer db.Close()

import MySQLdb
import os

conn = MySQLdb.connect(
  host="127.0.0.1",
  user="app",
  passwd=os.environ["MARIADB_PASSWORD"],
  db="app",
)
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT NOW()")

<?php

$dsn = "mysql:host=127.0.0.1;port=3306;dbname=app";
$pdo = new PDO($dsn, 'app', getenv('MARIADB_PASSWORD'));

$result = $pdo->query('SELECT NOW()')->fetch();

Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost for the database host. Some clients (including PHP/PDO) interpret localhost as a Unix socket connection, which will fail in a container environment. Using 127.0.0.1 forces a TCP connection.

Multi-container example

A typical setup pairs MariaDB with your application. When configuring the app, add two containers:

App container

Image: your app image (e.g. ghcr.io/<your-username>/my-app:latest)
Endpoint: the port your app listens on
Environment variables:
- DATABASE_URL = mysql://app:YOUR_PASSWORD@127.0.0.1:3306/app

MariaDB container

Image: library/mariadb:11
Volume: mount path /var/lib/mysql
Environment variables:
- MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD = a strong root password
- MARIADB_USER = app
- MARIADB_PASSWORD = a strong password
- MARIADB_DATABASE = app

Both containers share the same localhost network, so your app connects to MariaDB at 127.0.0.1:3306. See multi-container apps for more details.

External access

To connect to MariaDB from outside Magic Containers (e.g. from your local terminal), add an Anycast endpoint:

Go to your app’s Endpoints tab and click Add New Endpoint
Select Anycast as the type
Set Container Port to 3306
Set Exposed Port to 3306
Click Add Endpoint

Then connect using the Anycast IP and the exposed port:

mariadb -h <anycast-ip> -P <exposed-port> -u app -p --database app

The exposed port and container port may differ. When connecting externally, always use the exposed port shown in your endpoint configuration.

Exposing your database to the internet means anyone with the credentials can connect. Use a strong password and consider removing the Anycast endpoint when external access is no longer needed.

Documentation

Deployment

Managing Apps

Observability

Platform

Reference

Tutorials

Quickstart

Environment variables

Connect from your app

Multi-container example

App container

MariaDB container

External access

Documentation

Deployment

Managing Apps

Observability

Platform

Reference

Tutorials

​Quickstart

​Environment variables

​Connect from your app

​Multi-container example

​App container

​MariaDB container

​External access

Quickstart

Environment variables

Connect from your app

Multi-container example

App container

MariaDB container

External access