> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://newdocs.keeper.io/kcm-linux-rpm-method/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://newdocs.keeper.io/kcm-linux-rpm-method/authentication/using-keeper-connection-manager-with-a-mysql-database/installing-mariadb-for-guacamole-authentication.md).

# Installing MariaDB for Guacamole Authentication

CentOS and RHEL both provide a package for the MariaDB database server called "mariadb-server". Installing this package will install a version of MariaDB that is[ explicitly supported by Keeper Connection Manager](/kcm-linux-rpm-method/scope-of-support.md). If you do not have an existing database instance or third-party database hosting provider that you would prefer to use, installing a fresh instance of MariaDB for use by Guacamole will work nicely:

```
$ sudo yum install mariadb-server
```

As with other standard CentOS / RHEL packages providing a service, the MariaDB service will not be started by default after the "mariadb-server" package is installed. It must be started manually, and then configured to automatically start if the system is rebooted:

```
$ sudo systemctl start mariadb
$ sudo systemctl enable mariadb
```

### Dropping default anonymous users <a href="#id-.installingmariadbforguacamoleauthenticationv2.x-droppingdefaultanonymoususers" id="id-.installingmariadbforguacamoleauthenticationv2.x-droppingdefaultanonymoususers"></a>

**If MariaDB is installed locally (on the same server as Apache Guacamole), its default configuration will prevent Guacamole from authenticating**. This is due to the way that MariaDB handles authentication and anonymous database users: if an anonymous user is defined for the same hostname/address, MariaDB will use only the anonymous user, and authentication using a non-anonymous user and password from the same hostname/address will fail.

This can be checked by querying MariaDB's user table directly:

```
SELECT Host, User FROM mysql.user;
```

Any users with empty usernames in the results of the above query are anonymous users which may block authentication from succeeding:

```
+---------------------+----------------+
| Host                | User           |
+---------------------+----------------+
| %                   | guacamole_user |
| 127.0.0.1           | root           |
| ::1                 | root           |
| the.server.hostname |                |
| the.server.hostname | root           |
| localhost           |                |
| localhost           | root           |
+---------------------+----------------+
```

Dropping those users should allow non-anonymous authentication from those same hosts to succeed:

```
DROP USER ''@'localhost';
DROP USER ''@'the.server.hostname';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```

### Pointing Guacamole at the new MariaDB instance <a href="#id-.installingmariadbforguacamoleauthenticationv2.x-pointingguacamoleatthenewmariadbinstance" id="id-.installingmariadbforguacamoleauthenticationv2.x-pointingguacamoleatthenewmariadbinstance"></a>

Once MariaDB has been deployed, you should move forward with [configuring Guacamole to use your new MariaDB instance](/kcm-linux-rpm-method/authentication/using-keeper-connection-manager-with-a-mysql-database.md). This process is documented in its entirety, and the default `/etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties` file also contains placeholders and comments to help guide administrators to the correct configuration properties. Overall, the process will involve:

* Installing the package providing MySQL / MariaDB support (`kcm-guacamole-auth-jdbc-mysql`).
* Creating a new database within your MariaDB instance using the provided schema files.
* Creating a database user that Guacamole can use to execute queries against your database.
* Editing `/etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties` to point Guacamole at your database (and to specify the credentials of the database user it should use).


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