Many CentOS users face a frustrating situation where their attempts to install MySQL get automatically redirected to MariaDB installations. This occurs because:

• MariaDB is configured as the default MySQL replacement in CentOS repositories
• Package obsoletes tags force yum to prefer MariaDB
• Shared library dependencies create complex conflicts

First, we need to thoroughly clean up existing installations:

# Stop running services
sudo systemctl stop mariadb
sudo systemctl stop mysql

# Remove all packages
sudo yum remove mariadb-server mariadb-client mariadb-libs mariadb-common
sudo yum remove mysql-server mysql-libs mysql-devel mysql-community-server

# Clean up residual files
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mysql
sudo rm -rf /etc/my.cnf
sudo rm -rf /etc/my.cnf.d

Since CentOS repositories favor MariaDB, we need to add MySQL's official repo:

# Download and install the MySQL Yum repository
sudo yum localinstall https://dev.mysql.com/get/mysql80-community-release-el7-5.noarch.rpm

# Verify the repository is properly configured
sudo yum repolist enabled | grep "mysql.*-community.*"

The key to successful MySQL installation lies in managing dependencies:

# First install required libraries
sudo yum install openssl openssl-devel

# Disable MariaDB repository temporarily
sudo yum-config-manager --disable mariadb

# Install MySQL with explicit version specification
sudo yum --enablerepo=mysql80-community install mysql-community-server

After successful installation, verify everything works:

# Start MySQL service
sudo systemctl start mysqld

# Check status
sudo systemctl status mysqld

# Get temporary password
sudo grep 'temporary password' /var/log/mysqld.log

To prevent future conflicts:

# Create explicit version lock
sudo yum versionlock add mysql-community-server

# Set up proper alternatives
sudo alternatives --config mysql

If you encounter shared library errors:

# Check for conflicting libraries
ldd $(which mysqld) | grep not

# Create symbolic links if needed (example)
sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.1 /usr/lib64/libssl.so.10
sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.1.1 /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.10

After upgrading my CentOS system, I faced an unexpected situation where attempts to install MySQL packages were automatically being redirected to MariaDB installations. This appears to be a known issue where CentOS/RHEL distributions prioritize MariaDB as a drop-in replacement for MySQL.

First, we need to completely purge all MariaDB components:

# List all installed MariaDB packages
rpm -qa | grep -i mariadb

# Remove all MariaDB components
sudo yum remove mariadb-server mariadb-client mariadb-common mariadb-devel
sudo yum remove MariaDB-server MariaDB-client MariaDB-common MariaDB-devel

# Clean up residual files
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mysql
sudo rm -rf /etc/my.cnf*

The main challenge comes from the package obsoletes setting in CentOS repositories. We need to temporarily disable this behavior:

# Create a yum configuration file to exclude mariadb
sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/mysql-exclude-mariadb.repo <<EOF
[base]
exclude=mariadb* MariaDB*

[updates]
exclude=mariadb* MariaDB*

[extras]
exclude=mariadb* MariaDB*
EOF

Now we can install the official MySQL repositories and packages:

# Add MySQL community repository
sudo yum localinstall https://dev.mysql.com/get/mysql80-community-release-el7-3.noarch.rpm

# Disable MariaDB repository if present
sudo yum-config-manager --disable mariadb

# Install MySQL components
sudo yum install mysql-community-server mysql-community-client mysql-community-devel

If you encounter SSL dependency problems, consider these alternatives:

# For older systems needing compatibility libraries
sudo yum install compat-openssl10

# Or for a clean solution
sudo yum install openssl-devel

After successful installation, verify the MySQL installation:

# Start MySQL service
sudo systemctl start mysqld

# Check MySQL version
mysql --version

# Secure the installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

For a more straightforward method, consider using MySQL's official Yum repository:

# Add MySQL Yum repository
sudo rpm -Uvh https://repo.mysql.com/mysql80-community-release-el7-5.noarch.rpm

# Verify repository configuration
yum repolist enabled | grep mysql

# Install MySQL server
sudo yum --enablerepo=mysql80-community install mysql-community-server