# Plugins

- [Plugin Overview](/docs/server/reference/plugins/plugin-overview.md): MariaDB supports loading plugins at startup or runtime to extend functionality, including storage engines, security features, and logging capabilities, without rebuilding the server.
- [Plugin Maturity](/docs/server/reference/plugins/list-of-plugins.md): This page lists the maturity level (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Stable) of various MariaDB plugins, helping users determine which are suitable for production environments.
- [MariaDB Enterprise Audit](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-enterprise-audit.md): The MariaDB Enterprise Audit plugin logs detailed data access and configuration changes, offering advanced filtering to meet security and compliance requirements.
- [MariaDB Community Audit Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin.md): Complete MariaDB Audit Plugin reference: server\_audit activity logging, connection/query event tracking, file/syslog output, and compliance configuration.
- [Audit Plugin Overview](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-overview.md): The MariaDB Audit Plugin records server activity, including connections, queries, and table access, to help meet organizational auditing and compliance regulations.
- [Audit Plugin Installation](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-installation.md): Follow this guide to install the Audit Plugin on your MariaDB server. Learn how to verify the plugin file's location, load it dynamically, or configure it to load automatically at startup.
- [Audit Plugin Configuration](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-configuration.md): Configure the Audit Plugin to suit your monitoring requirements. Learn how to enable logging, select specific event types to record, and exclude specific users from the audit trail.
- [Audit Plugin Log Settings](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-log-settings.md): Control where and how the audit data is stored. This section explains how to direct output to a file or the system syslog, and how to configure logging parameters for different environments.
- [Audit Plugin Location and Rotation of Logs](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-location-and-rotation-of-logs.md): Manage your audit log files effectively. Learn how to define the log file path, set size limits, and configure rotation strategies to prevent log files from consuming all available disk space.
- [Audit Plugin Log Format](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-log-format.md): Understand the structure of audit log entries. This guide breaks down the fields in the log records, including timestamps, server IDs, user details, and the specific operations performed.
- [Audit Plugin Options and System Variables](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-options-and-system-variables.md): Browse the complete reference of system variables for the Audit Plugin. Use these settings to fine-tune logging behavior, control performance impact, and manage log file handling.
- [Audit Plugin Status Variables](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-status-variables.md): Monitor the performance and status of the Audit Plugin. View variables that track the number of logged events and current settings to ensure the auditing system is functioning correctly.
- [Audit Plugin Versions](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-audit-plugin/mariadb-audit-plugin-versions.md): Review the version history of the MariaDB Audit Plugin. Check compatibility with different MariaDB Server releases and identify which features or bug fixes are included in each version.
- [Authentication Plugins](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins.md): Explore the authentication plugins available in MariaDB, such as ed25519, GSSAPI, and PAM, which provide flexible and secure methods for user verification.
- [Pluggable Authentication Overview](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/pluggable-authentication-overview.md): Pluggable authentication allows MariaDB to use various authentication methods, enabling external validation, different hashing algorithms, and role-based access control.
- [Authentication Plugin - caching\_sha2\_password](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-caching_sha2_password.md)
- [Authentication Plugin - ed25519](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-ed25519.md): The ed25519 authentication plugin provides high-security password authentication using the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, a modern alternative to SHA-1.
- [Authentication Plugin - GSSAPI](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-gssapi.md): Complete GSSAPI authentication setup: Kerberos/SSPI single sign-on, INSTALL SONAME 'auth\_gssapi', gssapi\_keytab\_path/principal\_name, CREATE USER syntax.
- [Authentication Plugin - mysql\_native\_password](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-mysql_native_password.md): Complete Authentication Plugin - mysql\_native\_password guide for MariaDB. Complete reference documentation for implementation, configuration, and usage.
- [Authentication Plugin - mysql\_old\_password](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-mysql_old_password.md): This plugin provides backward compatibility for pre-4.1 clients using an older, insecure password hashing algorithm and should not be used for new installations.
- [Authentication Plugin - Named Pipe](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-named-pipe.md): The named\_pipe authentication plugin allows Windows users connecting via named pipes to authenticate using their operating system credentials without a password.
- [Authentication Plugin - PARSEC](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-parsec.md): PARSEC is a modern, secure authentication plugin that uses salted passwords and elliptic curve cryptography to prevent replay attacks and secure user credentials.
- [Authentication Plugin - SHA-256](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-sha-256.md): The SHA-256 authentication plugin uses the SHA-256 hashing algorithm for password storage, offering stronger security than the default SHA-1 method.
- [Authentication Plugin - Unix Socket](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-plugin-unix-socket.md): Official Unix socket authentication: OS user login via SO\_PEERCRED/uid matching, CREATE USER IDENTIFIED VIA unix\_socket, and unix\_socket force modes.
- [Authentication with Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-with-pluggable-authentication-modules-pam.md): Learn about authentication with Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) in MariaDB Server. This section details how to integrate MariaDB with PAM for centralized and flexible user authentication.
- [Authentication Plugin - PAM](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-with-pluggable-authentication-modules-pam/authentication-plugin-pam.md): The PAM authentication plugin delegates password validation to the operating system's PAM framework, enabling integration with LDAP, Kerberos, and other services.
- [Configuring PAM Authentication and User Mapping with LDAP Authentication](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-with-pluggable-authentication-modules-pam/configuring-pam-authentication-and-user-mapping-with-ldap-authentication.md): Learn to configure the PAM plugin to authenticate users via LDAP and map LDAP groups to MariaDB accounts using the pam\_user\_map module.
- [Configuring PAM Authentication and User Mapping with Unix Authentication](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-with-pluggable-authentication-modules-pam/configuring-pam-authentication-and-user-mapping-with-unix-authentication.md): This guide shows how to authenticate database users using local Unix accounts and map Unix groups to MariaDB users with the PAM plugin.
- [User and Group Mapping with PAM](/docs/server/reference/plugins/authentication-plugins/authentication-with-pluggable-authentication-modules-pam/user-and-group-mapping-with-pam.md): The pam\_user\_map PAM module allows administrators to map external PAM users and groups to specific MariaDB accounts for flexible authorization management.
- [MariaDB Replication & Cluster Plugins](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-replication-cluster-plugins.md): This section covers plugins specifically designed for high availability and clustering, including the wsrep\_provider plugin used for Galera Cluster integration.
- [WSREP\_INFO Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-replication-cluster-plugins/wsrep_info-plugin.md): The WSREP\_INFO plugin adds the WSREP\_MEMBERSHIP and WSREP\_STATUS tables to the Information Schema, providing detailed insights into Galera Cluster membership and status.
- [wsrep\_provider](/docs/server/reference/plugins/mariadb-replication-cluster-plugins/wsrep_provider.md): The wsrep\_provider plugin exposes Galera Cluster provider options as individual system variables, allowing for easier configuration and validation of cluster settings.
- [Other Plugins](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins.md): Discover additional plugins that extend MariaDB Server functionality, such as the Disks, Feedback, and Query Response Time plugins, for specialized use cases.
- [Disks Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/disks-plugin.md): The Disks plugin adds the DISKS table to the Information Schema, providing metadata about the system's disk storage and usage.
- [Feedback Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/feedback-plugin.md): The Feedback plugin collects and sends anonymous server usage and configuration data to MariaDB to help improve the software.
- [inet4](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/inet4.md): The inet4 plugin provides the INET4 data type, allowing for efficient native storage and manipulation of IPv4 addresses as 4-byte binary strings.
- [METADATA\_LOCK\_INFO Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/metadata-lock-info-plugin.md): This plugin creates the METADATA\_LOCK\_INFO table in the Information Schema, allowing users to view active metadata locks and their owners.
- [MYSQL\_JSON](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/mysql_json.md): The MYSQL\_JSON plugin provides a JSON data type alias for compatibility, ensuring that tables created with the MySQL JSON type can be read by MariaDB.
- [mhnsw](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/mhnsw.md): The mhnsw plugin implements the Hierarchical Navigable Small World algorithm, enabling high-performance approximate nearest neighbor search for vector data.
- [online\_alter\_log](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/online_alter_log.md): The online\_alter\_log plugin provides logging capabilities for online ALTER TABLE operations, helping administrators monitor and debug schema changes.
- [Query Cache Information Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/query-cache-information-plugin.md): This plugin exposes the contents of the query cache via the QUERY\_CACHE\_INFO table in the Information Schema, aiding in performance analysis.
- [Query Response Time Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/query-response-time-plugin.md): The Query Response Time plugin collects and displays the distribution of query execution times, helping to identify performance bottlenecks.
- [User Variables Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/other-plugins/user-variables-plugin.md): The User Variables plugin adds the USER\_VARIABLES table to the Information Schema, allowing users to inspect defined user variables and their values.
- [Password Validation Plugins](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins.md): Password validation plugins, like simple\_password\_check and cracklib, enforce strong password policies by checking new passwords against defined complexity rules.
- [Password Validation Plugin Overview](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins/password-validation.md): General introduction into plugins that enforce specific security policies and complexity rules for user passwords.
- [Cracklib Password Check Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins/cracklib-password-check-plugin.md): The Cracklib Password Check Plugin enforces password strength by validating new passwords against the CrackLib library and its dictionary.
- [Password Reuse Check Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins/password-reuse-check-plugin.md): The Password Reuse Check Plugin prevents users from reusing previous passwords, with a retention policy controlled by the password\_reuse\_check\_interval variable.
- [password\_reuse\_check\_interval Variable](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins/password_reuse_check_interval.md): This system variable defines the retention period in days for the password history used by the Password Reuse Check Plugin to prevent reuse.
- [Simple Password Check Plugin](/docs/server/reference/plugins/password-validation-plugins/simple-password-check-plugin.md): The Simple Password Check Plugin enforces basic password complexity rules, such as minimum length and required numbers of digits, letters, and special characters.