Microsoft Azure Database for Maria DB - Retirement 19th September 2025

We are aware that Microsoft Azure have announced that they will no longer supporting Maria DB on their platform from Sep 19, 2025, as outlined in this article - see HERE.

Maria DB is the primary database used to manage the dashboard repository and therefore actions is needed in advance of the Sep 19, 2025, to ensure that your dashboard services remain available to your customers and end users.

1. Review the announcement made by Microsoft in full, to ensure you are clear on all the impacts this may have to your Microsoft Azure architecture, as you may need to make additional changes within that, in addition to converting the dashboard repository from Maria DB to MySQL.

2. Consider the best approach you want to take to conduct any changes you need to make in Microsoft Azure, and how these aligned with converting your dashboard Maria DB database over to a MySQL format - steps on how to achieve this can be found below.

3. We would always recommend that changes of this significance are performed in a Test environment, and based on a baseline that mirrors that of the production instances to ensure a smooth and controlled transition, at a time that suits your business and end users.

While MariaDB and MySQL are both relational database management systems (RDBMS) with similar functionality, they are not directly interchangeable. A direct conversion is not possible, but there are methods to migrate your data from MariaDB to MySQL.

Here's a general outline of the process:

1. Create a Dump of your MariaDB Database: This creates a SQL file containing the database schema (structure) and data. You can use the mysqldump command-line tool for this.

2. Convert the Dump (Optional): In some cases, MariaDB might use storage engines incompatible with MySQL. You may need to modify the dump file to use the InnoDB engine, which is the primary storage engine for MySQL.

3. Install and Start MySQL Server: Ensure you have MySQL server set up and running on your system.

4. Create a new MySQL Database: This will be the destination for your migrated data. You can use the CREATE DATABASE command in the MySQL shell.

5. Import the Dump into MySQL: Use the mysql command-line tool to load the data from the dump file into your new MySQL database.

Here are some additional points to consider:

• Compatibility Checks: It's recommended to check for potential incompatibilities between MariaDB and MySQL features you might be using before migration.

• Migration Tools: There are third-party migration tools available that can automate the process and offer additional features.

• Testing: After migration, thoroughly test your application to ensure everything functions as expected with MySQL.

We recommend that you start to consider the changes you will need to make, well in advance of the deadline outlined by Microsoft Azure. We recommend that after making the conversion that you test this thoroughly through a Test instance before implementing this on your production environments.