How to Connect MariaDB to Looker in PostgreSQL

What parameters does Looker require?

Looker needs host, port (3306), database, username, password, SSL mode, and optional JDBC parameters such as zeroDateTimeBehavior or useSSL=true. Supply these exactly as they appear in MariaDB’s my.cnf.

How do I prepare MariaDB for Looker access?

Create a dedicated, read-only user and grant it the minimum schema privileges. Expose TCP 3306 only to Looker’s IP range and enforce TLS.

Step 1 — Create the Looker user

CREATE USER 'looker'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongP@ss!';

Step 2 — Grant limited rights

GRANT SELECT ON ecommerce.* TO 'looker'@'%';

How do I add a connection inside Looker?

Admin → Connections → New. Select “MariaDB”. Fill host, port, database, user, password, and tick “SSL”. Add JDBC string options if needed.

Which JDBC string should I use?

jdbc:mariadb://db.prod.local:3306/ecommerce?useSSL=true&serverTimezone=UTC&zeroDateTimeBehavior=CONVERT_TO_NULL

How do I test the connection?

Click “Test” in Looker. Successful ping plus SELECT 1 indicates network and auth are correct. Run the query below to confirm schema visibility.

Example SQL to verify ecommerce tables

SELECT table_name
FROM information_schema.tables
WHERE table_schema = 'ecommerce'
ORDER BY table_name;

Best practices for production

Use private networking or SSH tunnel, rotate passwords, restrict to read-only, and enable slow-query logging for optimization.

Common mistakes when connecting MariaDB to Looker

Incorrect SSL parameters and lack of time-zone settings cause frequent failures. See fixes below.