Here are the steps I used to to upgrad MySQL to MariaDB in XAMPP on Windows in about 5 minutes. After completing this process, MariaDB will look and work just like MySQL. You may even notice a performance increase in your website. No need to panic fellow developer, increased performance is perfectly normal and just one of the great benefits of MariaDB over MySQL.
IMPORTANT: Before you begin, always be sure to make a good backup. Do not do move instead of copy files in the instructions below as the original files may be required in order to back out and restore the original MySQL environment if it doesn't work out for you.
- Open a command prompt.
- Go to your xampp folder.
- Enter the following command: mysql/bin/mysql --version
- Take note of the version of MySQL you have installed. This is the version of MariaDB that you will need. You can now exit the command prompt as the rest of the instructions can be done through Windows Explorer