Linux All-In-One For Dummies, 7th Edition

Chapter 3

Managing a Database Server

IN THIS CHAPTER

Working with the MySQL/MariaDB database server

Getting familiar with the PostgreSQL database server

Creating tables and working with data

In the old days, if you wanted to store data in or retrieve data from a program or shell script, you had to create a file, read data from the file, parse the data, and then save the data back into the file. Searching for data in the file meant reading every record in the file to look for your data. Nowadays, with databases being all the rage, interfacing your programs and shell scripts with professional-quality open-source databases is a snap. The two most popular open-source databases used in the Linux world are MySQL and PostgreSQL. This chapter shows you how to get these databases running on your Linux system. It also walks you through working with these databases from the command line.

Using the MySQL/MariaDB Database

By far, the most popular database available in the Linux environment has been the MySQL database. Its popularity has grown as a part of the Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) server environment, which many Internet web servers use for hosting online stores, blogs, and applications. ...