CentOS 7 MariaDB Error "Failed to start mariadb.service: Unit not found."

Question

I am somewhat new to Linux, testing various LAMP setups in Virtualbox on Windows. Currently I have a Centos 7 VM that I am trying to install MariaDB on. I am following instructions here: http://www.tecmint.com/install-lamp-in-centos-7

I ran

# yum install mariadb-server mariadb

Installation was successful according to terminal output, but when I run:

 # systemctl start mariadb

I get

Failed to start mariadb.service: Unit not found.

I spent past couple of hours googling this, but nothing seems to solve my issue, inlcuding this (No mysqld or mysql.server after mariadb-server install) and many other posts.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

UPDATE 01

I uninstalled mariadb:

[root@centos7 admin]# yum remove mysql
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package MariaDB-client.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos will be erased
--> Processing Dependency: MariaDB-client for package: MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package MariaDB-server.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos will be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

===================================================================================
 Package              Arch         Version                    Repository      Size
===================================================================================
Removing:
 MariaDB-client       x86_64       10.0.30-1.el7.centos       @mariadb        49 M
Removing for dependencies:
 MariaDB-server       x86_64       10.0.30-1.el7.centos       @mariadb       237 M

Transaction Summary
===================================================================================
Remove  1 Package (+1 Dependent package)

Installed size: 286 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading packages:
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Erasing    : MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      1/2
  Erasing    : MariaDB-client-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      2/2
  Verifying  : MariaDB-client-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      1/2
  Verifying  : MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      2/2

Removed:
  MariaDB-client.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos

Dependency Removed:
  MariaDB-server.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos

Complete!

ran yum clean all and yum update

reinstalled mariadb:

# yum install mariadb-server mariadb
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * Webmin: download.webmin.com
 * base: anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk
 * extras: centos.mirrors.nublue.co.uk
 * updates: centos.serverspace.co.uk
Package mariadb-server is obsoleted by MariaDB-server, trying to install MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64 instead
Package mariadb is obsoleted by MariaDB-client, trying to install MariaDB-client-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64 instead
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package MariaDB-client.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos will be installed
---> Package MariaDB-server.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

===================================================================================
 Package              Arch         Version                     Repository     Size
===================================================================================
Installing:
 MariaDB-client       x86_64       10.0.30-1.el7.centos        mariadb        10 M
 MariaDB-server       x86_64       10.0.30-1.el7.centos        mariadb        55 M

Transaction Summary
===================================================================================
Install  2 Packages

Total download size: 65 M
Installed size: 65 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
(1/2): MariaDB-10.0.30-centos7-x86_64-client.rpm            |  10 MB  00:00:22
(2/2): MariaDB-10.0.30-centos7-x86_64-server.rpm            |  55 MB  00:01:15
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                 876 kB/s |  65 MB  01:15
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing : MariaDB-client-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      1/2
  Installing : MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      2/2
libsemanage.map_file: Unable to open /usr/share/mysql/SELinux/mariadb.pp
 (No such file or directory).
libsemanage.semanage_direct_install_file: Unable to read file /usr/share/mysql/SELinux/mariadb.pp
 (No such file or directory).
/usr/sbin/semodule:  Failed on /usr/share/mysql/SELinux/mariadb.pp!
  Verifying  : MariaDB-client-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      1/2
  Verifying  : MariaDB-server-10.0.30-1.el7.centos.x86_64                      2/2

Installed:
  MariaDB-client.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos
  MariaDB-server.x86_64 0:10.0.30-1.el7.centos

Complete!

Still no go, what gives?

# systemctl start mariadb.service
Failed to start mariadb.service: Unit not found.

UPDATE 02

There could be something with package versions and capitalization, I used mariaDB repos instead of centos for installation, so it picked up version 10.0.30:

]# yum info mariadb-server
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * Webmin: download.webmin.com
 * base: anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk
 * extras: centos.mirrors.nublue.co.uk
 * updates: centos.serverspace.co.uk
Installed Packages
Name        : MariaDB-server
Arch        : x86_64
Version     : 10.0.30
Release     : 1.el7.centos
Size        : 237 M
Repo        : installed
From repo   : mariadb
Summary     : MariaDB: a very fast and robust SQL database server
URL         : http://mariadb.org
License     : GPLv2
Description : MariaDB: a very fast and robust SQL database server
            :
            : It is GPL v2 licensed, which means you can use the it free of charge
            : under the conditions of the GNU General Public License Version 2
            : (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/).
            :
            : MariaDB documentation can be found at https://mariadb.com/kb
            : MariaDB bug reports should be submitted through
            : https://jira.mariadb.org

Available Packages
Name        : mariadb-server
Arch        : x86_64
Epoch       : 1
Version     : 5.5.52
Release     : 1.el7
Size        : 11 M
Repo        : base/7/x86_64
Summary     : The MariaDB server and related files
URL         : http://mariadb.org
License     : GPLv2 with exceptions and LGPLv2 and BSD
Description : MariaDB is a multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. It is a
            : client/server implementation consisting of a server daemon (mysqld)
            : and many different client programs and libraries. This package
            : contains the MariaDB server and some accompanying files and
            : directories. MariaDB is a community developed branch of MySQL.

Ok, so this is "off-Topic".... nice so, a DB installation does -not- fit in "managing information technology systems in a business environment". I had this situation during a system update in hundred users environment. — fcm, Mar 30 '17 at 15:41
I also disagree about this being off-topic. This is exactly the forum where I would have asked this question. The help page specifically states that questions about "managing the hardware or software of servers, workstations, storage or networks" and the "tools used for administering, monitoring, or automating these" are "on-topic." — Kingand, Nov 08 '17 at 21:27
This is about as on-topic as it gets here. This should be fixed. — Joshua, Jan 25 '18 at 21:09

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 08 '22 at 15:12

Further research showed that in MariaDB repo (v 10.0.30) service is called mysql as opposed to centos repo (v5.5) it is called mariadb, so that was one confusion / issue.

Reference question: MariaDB on Centos7, service still called MySql

Running # service mysql start returned ERROR

Error check with grep command:

    journalctl -xe|grep 'mysqld.*errno'

It showed:

/usr/bin/mysqld_safe_helper: Cannot change uid/gid (errno: 1)

Following this post seems to have fixed the issue, which had to do with MariaDB 10.0.XX version and SELinux:

https://www.penguinprompt.com/mariadb-10-0-29-update-failure-selinux/

I am able to start mysql service and configure it with mysql_secure_installation

iwaseatenbyagrue · Answer 2 · 2017-03-13T10:11:26.153

I guess I would check that mariadb-server installed correctly - it seems to contain the service definition:

rpm -qvla mariadb-server | grep service
-rw-r--r--    1 root    root                     1697 Nov 14 16:44 /usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service

You can also check using yum:

> yum info mariadb-server
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, ovl
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * base: centos.mirror.triple-it.nl
 * extras: centos.mirror.transip.nl
 * updates: centos.ams.host-engine.com
Installed Packages
Name        : mariadb-server
Arch        : x86_64
Epoch       : 1
Version     : 5.5.52
Release     : 1.el7
Size        : 56 M
Repo        : installed

You are looking for the last line above to say installed, instead of base/7/x86_64.

I just tried your install commands on a fresh centos7 image (the official centos docker container), and could not replicate your issue.

You may want to try and re-install mariadb-server.

Update: I think your issue is due to your MariaDB package coming from the webmin repo, rather than the base repo. Disabling that temporarily (or more permanently) may help: sudo yum install --disablerepo=Webmin mariadb-server should solve your immediate issue (and/or get you the files you need).

All else failing, the service definition is simple enough:

# It's not recommended to modify this file in-place, because it will be
# overwritten during package upgrades.  If you want to customize, the
# best way is to create a file "/etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service",
# containing
#       .include /lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service
#       ...make your changes here...
# or create a file "/etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/foo.conf",
# which doesn't need to include ".include" call and which will be parsed
# after the file mariadb.service itself is parsed.
#
# For more info about custom unit files, see systemd.unit(5) or
# http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Systemd#How_do_I_customize_a_unit_file.2F_add_a_custom_unit_file.3F

# For example, if you want to increase mariadb's open-files-limit to 10000,
# you need to increase systemd's LimitNOFILE setting, so create a file named
# "/etc/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/limits.conf" containing:
#       [Service]
#       LimitNOFILE=10000

# Note: /usr/lib/... is recommended in the .include line though /lib/... 
# still works.
# Don't forget to reload systemd daemon after you change unit configuration:
# root> systemctl --system daemon-reload

[Unit]
Description=MariaDB database server
After=syslog.target
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=mysql
Group=mysql

ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/mariadb-prepare-db-dir %n
# Note: we set --basedir to prevent probes that might trigger SELinux alarms,
# per bug #547485
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mysqld_safe --basedir=/usr
ExecStartPost=/usr/libexec/mariadb-wait-ready $MAINPID

# Give a reasonable amount of time for the server to start up/shut down
TimeoutSec=300

# Place temp files in a secure directory, not /tmp
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Thank you for a prompt reply. Runing `rpm -qvla mariadb-server | grep service` returns nothing in my case. I will try reinstalling mariadb packages. — B-and-P, Mar 13 '17 at 09:52

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 14 '17 at 09:57

0

I have the same trouble. My solution is: sudo systemctl start mysql.service and sudo chkconfig mysql on.

Maybe you should temporarily disable SeLinux with: sudo setenforce 0

Greetings

answered Mar 14 '17 at 09:57

user4742258

1

CentOS 7 MariaDB Error "Failed to start mariadb.service: Unit not found."

UPDATE 01

UPDATE 02

3 Answers3