Can I use MySQL Workbench to create MariaDB?

Question

I am totally new to databases. I would like to create a database; I am going to make a small project which is going to use DB. I am going to use Maria DB as it is totally free for commercial use.

The question is: Can I use MySQL workbench program to create a database and then transform/change it to MariaDB?

Answer 1

From my experience -- Sure, you can use MySQL Workbench with MariaDB. However, I have tried basic functionalities only, like queries, schema design etc. Not sure about compatibility of advanced features.

Answer 2

So my experiences are, yes you can use MySQL Workbench for MariaDB database designs.

However I needed to change the "Default Target MySQL Version" to 5.7.

This can be done by going to: Edit->Preferences in the menu. And finally to Modeling->MySQL.

Since the latest MySQL version, v8.x, the SQL statements are not compatible with MariaDB statements (like creating an index). MariabDB creating an index on a table:

INDEX `fk_rsg_sub_level_rsg_top_level1_idx` (`rgs_top_level_id` ASC)

vs

MySQL:

INDEX `fk_rsg_sub_level_rsg_top_level1_idx` (`rgs_top_level_id` ASC) VISIBLE

MariaDB can't handle this VISIBLE keyword in this example. Using an old MySQL Version, MySQL Workbench will forward engineer a compatible MariaDB SQL file.

Currently (Oct 2019) the generated SQL_MODE output is still compatible with MariaDB. Just like InnoDB, which is also preferred when using MariaDB in most cases.

Answer 3

Just to list a few other options:

• MySQL Workbench
• Heidi Sql
• SQLyog

Answer 4

No.

The latest version of Workbench 8.0 is not supported in MySQL.

Answer 5

Yes, although connecting to view existing database on a remote MariaDB server will crash the current client (6.3.10). I use it mainly to deploy database models and that works fine, even on remote servers.

I just deployed to a MariaDB 10.3 server with that client and it worked fine, see screenshot.