MariaDB Connector/C Guide

Quickstart Guide for Connector/C

MariaDB Connector/C Quickstart Guide

This guide will help you quickly get started with MariaDB Connector/C, the client library used to connect C/C++ applications to MariaDB and MySQL databases. It's LGPL licensed and is being integrated directly into MariaDB Server distributions.

Installation

MariaDB Connector/C is often distributed with MariaDB Server packages, but you can also install it separately.

Download Packages

You can download MariaDB Connector/C packages directly:

• From the downloads page: Select your desired version from the main MariaDB Connector/C download page.

• By product selection: Choose "C/C++ connector" as the Product on the MariaDB downloads page.

Install with a Package Manager (Recommended for Linux)

If you're using Linux, the simplest way to install MariaDB Connector/C is via your system's package manager. Your system needs to be configured to install from a MariaDB repository (version 10.2 or later).

You can set up your repository using:

• MariaDB Corporation's MariaDB Package Repository setup script.

• MariaDB Foundation's MariaDB Repository Configuration Tool.

Install with yum/dnf (RHEL, CentOS, Fedora)

For RHEL, CentOS, Fedora, and similar distributions, use yum or dnf:

To install the shared library:

sudo yum install MariaDB-shared

To install the development package (if you're building applications):

sudo yum install MariaDB-devel

Install with apt-get (Debian, Ubuntu)

For Debian, Ubuntu, and similar distributions, use apt-get:

To install the shared library:

sudo apt-get install libmariadb3

To install the development package (if you're building applications):

sudo apt-get install libmariadb-dev

Install with zypper (SLES, OpenSUSE)

For SLES, OpenSUSE, and similar distributions, use zypper:

To install the shared library:

sudo zypper install MariaDB-shared

To install the development package (if you're building applications):

sudo zypper install MariaDB-devel

Install on Windows

MariaDB Connector/C for Windows is distributed as MSI packages. The installation process is straightforward, with both 32-bit and 64-bit MSI packages available.

Install from Source

If you prefer to build from source, refer to the Building Connector/C From Source documentation.

API Reference

MariaDB Connector/C provides an API that is compatible with MySQL Connector/C for MySQL 5.5.

You can find the function reference at:

• MariaDB Client Library for C API Functions

• MariaDB Client Library for C API Prepared Statement Functions

An HTML version is also available for download in mariadb-client-doc.zip.

Configuration with Option Files

Similar to MariaDB Server, MariaDB Connector/C can read configuration options from client option groups in option files.

For detailed information, see Configuring MariaDB Connector/C with Option Files.

Known Issues

Be aware of these potential limitations:

• Double-to-string conversion for prepared statements may not work correctly.

• Connector versions 3.0.7 and below do not support MySQL 8.0's default authentication protocol, caching_sha2_password. This should be supported in Connector/C 3.0.8 and above.

Need Help or Want to Contribute?

• Report Bugs: If you encounter a bug, please report it via the CONC project on MariaDB's Jira bug tracker.

• Source Code: The source code is available on GitHub in the mariadb-connector-c repository.

License

GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

For licensing questions, see the Licensing FAQ.