MySQL & MariaDB Configuration

While SQLite is the default database for indi-allsky, MySQL or MariaDB may be utilized for multi-camera deployments, network-attached clusters, or dedicated remote web portal servers.

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1. Installation

Install MariaDB server on Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspberry Pi OS:

sudo apt-get install -y mariadb-server

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2. Database & User Provisioning

Connect to the MariaDB CLI as root:

sudo mysql -u root

Create the dedicated indi_allsky database with full UTF-8 Unicode character support:

CREATE DATABASE indi_allsky
  CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
  COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Create the service user and grant privileges:

-- For local Unix socket or localhost connections
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON indi_allsky.* TO 'indi_allsky_own'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';

-- For remote TCP connections requiring SSL
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON indi_allsky.* TO 'indi_allsky_own'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password' REQUIRE SSL;

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

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3. Connection Strings (flask.json)

Configure SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI in /etc/indi-allsky/flask.json:

Local Unix Domain Socket (Recommended for Local MariaDB)

"SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI": "mysql+mysqlconnector://indi_allsky_own:your_password@/indi_allsky?charset=utf8mb4&collation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci&unix_socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock"

Localhost TCP

"SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI": "mysql+mysqlconnector://indi_allsky_own:your_password@localhost:3306/indi_allsky?charset=utf8mb4&collation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci"

Remote Host with SSL

"SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI": "mysql+mysqlconnector://indi_allsky_own:[email protected]:3306/indi_allsky?charset=utf8mb4&collation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci&ssl_ca=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt&ssl_verify_identity"

[!NOTE] MariaDB uses utf8mb4_unicode_ci. Specifying both charset=utf8mb4 and collation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci ensures compatibility across modern versions of mysql-connector-python.

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4. Server Engine Tuning

For performance optimization under high frame rates, edit /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf:

[mysqld]
innodb_file_per_table = 1
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 512M
tmpdir = /var/tmp

Restart MariaDB:

sudo systemctl restart mariadb

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5. Converting Existing SQLite Data

To migrate existing media history and camera parameters from SQLite into MariaDB, follow the Database Conversion guide.