Upgrade MariaDB 10.11 to 11.4 in 3 steps

At the beginning we have a Debian 12 server running MariaDB version 10.11, which can be verified with following command:

root@localhost:~# mariadb --version
mariadb Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.11.10-MariaDB, for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper
root@localhost:~#

Step 1 : Connect repository

Correct repository settings can be obitained on the official website: https://mariadb.org/download/

Import repository signing key:

root@localhost:~# apt-get install apt-transport-https curl
root@localhost:~# mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
root@localhost:~# curl -o /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp 'https://mariadb.org/mariadb_release_signing_key.pgp'

From Drop-down lists select Debian 12 and MariaDB version 11.4.

After selection, repository configuration will appear:

# MariaDB 11.4 repository list - created 2025-01-06 22:14 UTC
# https://mariadb.org/download/
# deb.mariadb.org is a dynamic mirror if your preferred mirror goes offline. See https://mariadb.org/mirrorbits/ for details.
# deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp] https://deb.mariadb.org/11.4/debian bookworm main
deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp] https://mirror.mva-n.net/mariadb/repo/11.4/debian bookworm main
# deb-src [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp] https://mirror.mva-n.net/mariadb/repo/11.4/debian bookworm main

Create configuration file on destination server:

 root@localhost:~# nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mariadb.list

Paste repository configuration inside, and close file [Ctrl+X].

Step 2: Update list of packages

To update list of packages run following command:

root@localhost:~# apt update
Hit:1 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security InRelease
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm InRelease                       
Hit:3 https://mirror.mva-n.net/mariadb/repo/11.4/debian bookworm InRelease  
Reading package lists... Done                      
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
21 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.

At the end command says that some packages can be upgraded. If not sure you can verify which by running:

root@localhost:~# apt list --upgradable

Step 3: Upgrade MariaDB

root@localhost:~# apt upgrade -y

Thats it! You are running MariaDB verion 11.4