6 Ways to Check your MariaDB Version

Posted on by Ian

Here are six ways to check what version of MariaDB you’re currently running.

Option 1: The @@version Variable

The @@version variable contains the server version number. It may also include a suffix with configuration or build information.

You can retrieve its contents with a simple SELECT statement.

Example:

SELECT @@version;

Result:

+----------------+
| @@version      |
+----------------+
| 10.5.9-MariaDB |
+----------------+

Option 2: The VERSION() Function

The VERSION() function returns the same information – the server version number, which may also include a suffix with configuration or build information.

This can be called using a SELECT statement. No arguments are required (or accepted).

Example:

SELECT VERSION();

Result:

+----------------+
| VERSION()      |
+----------------+
| 10.5.9-MariaDB |
+----------------+

Option 3: The SHOW VARIABLES Statement

The SHOW VARIABLES statement shows the values of MariaDB system variables.

You can use a WHERE clause to narrow the variables to just the version variable.

Example:

SHOW VARIABLES
WHERE variable_name = 'version';

Result:

+---------------+----------------+
| Variable_name | Value          |
+---------------+----------------+
| version       | 10.5.9-MariaDB |
+---------------+----------------+

Alternatively, you can use a LIKE operator to return other variables that have version in their name.

Example:

SHOW VARIABLES
WHERE variable_name LIKE '%version%';

Result:

+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| Variable_name                     | Value                                    |
+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| in_predicate_conversion_threshold | 1000                                     |
| innodb_version                    | 10.5.9                                   |
| protocol_version                  | 10                                       |
| slave_type_conversions            |                                          |
| system_versioning_alter_history   | ERROR                                    |
| system_versioning_asof            | DEFAULT                                  |
| tls_version                       | TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3                  |
| version                           | 10.5.9-MariaDB                           |
| version_comment                   | Homebrew                                 |
| version_compile_machine           | x86_64                                   |
| version_compile_os                | osx10.16                                 |
| version_malloc_library            | system                                   |
| version_source_revision           | 3a8ca9096ea82ca61811450775511533d6cb1bb4 |
| version_ssl_library               | OpenSSL 1.1.1k  25 Mar 2021              |
| wsrep_patch_version               | wsrep_26.22                              |
+-----------------------------------+------------------------------------------+

Option 4: The STATUS Command

You can type STATUS any time you’re logged in to return information about the MariaDB version and other details.

Example:

STATUS;

Result:

mariadb  Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.5.9-MariaDB, for osx10.16 (x86_64) using readline 5.1

Connection id:		11
Current database:	PetHouse
Current user:		barney@localhost
SSL:			Not in use
Current pager:		stdout
Using outfile:		''
Using delimiter:	;
Server:			MariaDB
Server version:		10.5.9-MariaDB Homebrew
Protocol version:	10
Connection:		Localhost via UNIX socket
Insert id:		4
Server characterset:	utf8mb4
Db     characterset:	utf8mb4
Client characterset:	utf8
Conn.  characterset:	utf8
UNIX socket:		/tmp/mysql.sock
Uptime:			7 days 23 hours 50 min 3 sec

Threads: 1  Questions: 411  Slow queries: 0  Opens: 41  Open tables: 25  Queries per second avg: 0.000

Option 5: Login to MariaDB

When you first log in to MariaDB, the version number is presented within the “Welcome” message.

For example, opening a new terminal window and running the following command connects to MariaDB:

mariadb --auto-vertical-output

And the following “Welcome” (or similar) message is displayed:

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 4
Server version: 10.5.9-MariaDB Homebrew

Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

Option 6: The --version Option

If you don’t have MariaDB open, you can find out what version it is by using the --version (or -V) option of the mariadb, mariadb-admin, and mysqladmin programs.

For example, opening a new terminal window and running the following command:

mariadb --version

Returns the following:

mariadb  Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.5.9-MariaDB, for osx10.16 (x86_64) using readline 5.1

Running the following command:

mariadb-admin --version

Returns the following:

mariadb-admin  Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.5.9-MariaDB, for osx10.16 on x86_64

And running the following command:

mysqladmin --version

Returns the following:

mysqladmin  Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.5.9-MariaDB, for osx10.16 on x86_64

The --version part can alternatively be shortened to just --V.

Example:

mariadb-admin -V

Returns the following:

mariadb-admin  Ver 9.1 Distrib 10.5.9-MariaDB, for osx10.16 on x86_64