> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/security/securing-mariadb/running-mariadbd-as-root.md).

# Running MariaDB as root

Understand the implications of running MariaDB Server as root. This section highlights security risks and provides guidance on configuring MariaDB Server to operate with less privileged user accounts.

MariaDB should never be run as the system root user (this is unrelated to the MariaDB root user). If it is, any user with the `FILE` privilege can create or modify any files on the server as root.

If you attempt to run the server (`mariadbd`) as root, MariaDB normally returns the error **Fatal error: Please read "Security" section of the manual to find out how to run mariadbd as root!**. If you need to override this restriction, start `mariadbd` with the [user=root](/docs/server/server-management/starting-and-stopping-mariadb/mariadbd-options.md#user) option.

Better practice, and the default in most situations, is to use a separate user, exclusively used for MariaDB. In most distributions, this user is called `mysql`.

<sub>*This page is licensed: CC BY-SA / Gnu FDL*</sub>

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