Looking at the contents of the MariaDB configuration file for the first time can be a scary experience, but it doesn't have to be. It's actually laid out quite logically. Sometimes, the hardest part is just knowing where it is. We'll review that first, and then go into the various parts that make up the file.
The configuration file is just a text file and we can edit it with our favorite text editor. Even though the extensions may be different (.ini or .cnf), the contents of the files are the same. Apart from empty lines, which can be ignored, there are four main types of entries in a MariaDB configuration file. These are: comments, groups, options with no values, and options with values. We'll discuss each of them in turn.