Overview

MaxScale has a REST API, which can be configured to require authentication. When first installed, it has a single default admin user (admin) and password (mariadb). However, this user can be deleted, and other users can be created.

MaxCtrl is a command-line utility that can perform administrative tasks using MaxScale's REST API. It can create a user for the REST API.

User Types

There are two types of users:

Creating a Basic User

1. Configure the if the default configuration is not sufficient.

2. Use MaxCtrl to execute the create user command:

Replace maxscale_rest and maxscale_rest_password with the desired user and password.

Creating an Admin User

1. Configure the if the default configuration is not sufficient.

2. Use MaxCtrl to execute the create user command with the --type=admin option:

Replace maxscale_rest_admin and maxscale_rest_admin_password with the desired user and password.

_{This page is: Copyright © 2025 MariaDB. All rights reserved.}

Overview

_MaxCtrl is a command-line utility that can perform administrative tasks using . It is possible to connect to MaxScale using TLS with MaxCtrl.

Overview

When using MaxScale, it is often necessary to temporarily remove a server from the load balancing pool without actually shutting down the server. This is usually needed to perform maintenance on the server, such as when upgrading the server's software or when performing schema upgrades.

MaxScale allows users to set servers to "maintenance mode", which prevents MaxScale from routing traffic to the server and prevents it from being elected as the new primary server during failover or switchover.

MaxCtrl is a command-line utility that can perform administrative tasks using MaxScale's REST API. It can be used to set a server to maintenance mode.

Setting a Server to Maintenance Mode

1. Configure the REST API if the default configuration is not sufficient.

2. Use MaxCtrl to execute the set server command with the maintenance option:

Replace server1 with the name of the specific server.

1. If the specified server is a primary server, then MaxScale will allow open transactions to complete before closing any connections.

Forcing a Server to Maintenance Mode

1. Use MaxCtrl to execute the set server command with the maintenance --force option:

1. Replace server1 with the specific server name. When --force is used, MaxScale immediately closes all connections, even if the server is a primary server with open transactions.

_{This page is: Copyright © 2025 MariaDB. All rights reserved.}

Overview

MaxScale has a REST API, which can be configured to require authentication. When it is first installed, it has a single default admin user (admin) and password (mariadb). However, this user can be deleted, and other users can be created.

MaxCtrl is a command-line utility that can perform administrative tasks using MaxScale's REST API. It can be used to delete a user for the REST API.

Deleting a User

1. if the default configuration is not sufficient.

2. Use MaxCtrl to execute the command:

Replace admin with the actual user.

_{This page is: Copyright © 2025 MariaDB. All rights reserved.}

When operating MariaDB MaxScale in dynamic environments—such as Kubernetes, where nodes are frequently provisioned and deleted—it is critical to cleanly remove decommissioned servers from your MaxScale configuration. To delete a server using maxctrl, one has to unlink the server from any services or monitors beforehand. This step-by-step guide walks you through the safe removal process, following the recommended teardown sequence: Listener ➔ Service ➔ Monitor ➔ Server.