mariadb/skills
Compatibility guide for developers migrating from Oracle Database to MariaDB.
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SKILL.md
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SUMMARY.md
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Last updated: 2026-06-04
MariaDB is the only open source database with native PL/SQL compatibility. MySQL has no equivalent Oracle compatibility mode. PostgreSQL requires a complete PL/SQL rewrite. MariaDB's sql_mode=ORACLE enables approximately 80% of Oracle code to run without modification — stored procedures, packages, cursors, exception handling, and Oracle-style functions included.
Additional advantages over other open source alternatives:
Requires: MariaDB Community Server 10.3+ for Oracle compatibility mode. 10.6+ for
ROWNUM,TOCHAR(),ADDMONTHS(),SYS_GUID(). Current LTS is 11.8 (May 2025).
SET sql_mode = 'ORACLE';
-- or permanently in configuration:
-- sql_mode = ORACLEWithout this, PL/SQL syntax, Oracle data type synonyms, and Oracle-style functions will not work. This is the single most important step and the most commonly missed.
| What you might see | What's correct |
|---|---|
| PL/SQL that fails with syntax errors | Set sql_mode=ORACLE first — without it, PL/SQL constructs are not recognized |
Oracle DATE mapped to MariaDB DATE |
Oracle DATE stores date AND time — map to DATETIME, not DATE |
| Assuming 100% PL/SQL compatibility | ~80% works without changes; SYNONYM, INSERT ALL, and CONNECT BY usually require rewrites — (+) joins work in Oracle mode on 12.1+ (see next row) |
SYNONYM usage in schema or code |
No equivalent in MariaDB — replace with views or direct object references |
(+) outer join notation |
Supported in Oracle mode since MariaDB 12.1 (MDEV-13817) — on older versions rewrite as LEFT JOIN / RIGHT JOIN |
START WITH ... CONNECT BY |
Not supported — rewrite as recursive CTE using WITH RECURSIVE |
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE |
Loses timezone on migration — becomes DATETIME; handle timezone in application |
sql_mode=ORACLE handles these automatically:
| Oracle | MariaDB | Notes |
|---|---|---|
VARCHAR2(n) |
VARCHAR(n) |
Automatic |
NUMBER(p,s) |
DECIMAL(p,s) |
Automatic |
NUMBER |
DOUBLE |
Automatic |
DATE |
DATETIME |
Automatic, but note: Oracle DATE includes time; MariaDB DATE does not |
CLOB |
LONGTEXT |
Automatic |
BLOB |
LONGBLOB |
Automatic |
RAW(n) |
VARBINARY(n) |
Automatic |
CHAR(n > 255) |
VARCHAR(n) |
Manual |
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE |
DATETIME |
Manual — timezone info lost |
BFILE |
LONGBLOB |
Manual — file path storage differs |
ROWID |
CHAR(10) |
Manual |
CREATE PACKAGE, CREATE PACKAGE BODY — since 11.4 also work outside sql_mode=ORACLE (MDEV-10075), letting you use packages in mixed-mode codebases%ISOPEN, %ROWCOUNT, %FOUND, %NOTFOUNDTYPE ... IS REF CURSOR (13.0+) — pass cursors as procedure parameters and return valuesSYSREFCURSOR (12.0+) — built-in cursor type, no TYPE declaration needed; maxopen_cursors system variable caps concurrent open cursors:= assignment, %TYPE, %ROWTYPEROW data type as stored function return value (11.7+) — function returns a structured row, similar to Oracle row typesRECORD types in routine parameters and function RETURN clauses (13.0+)DECLARE TYPE ... TABLE OF ... INDEX BY (12.1+)DEFAULT clauseFOR i IN 1..10 LOOP, GOTO, EXIT WHEN, ELSIF, CONTINUEEXCEPTION WHEN TOOMANYROWS / NODATAFOUND / DUPVALON_INDEXBEGIN ... ENDEXECUTE IMMEDIATE ... USING:NEW, :OLD| Function | Available Since |
|---|---|
DECODE() |
10.3 |
CHR(), SUBSTR() with position 0 |
10.3 |
ADD_MONTHS() |
10.6 |
TO_CHAR() |
10.6 (FM padding-suppression format added in 12.0) |
SYS_GUID() |
10.6 |
ROWNUM |
10.6 |
TO_NUMBER() |
12.2.1 |
TO_DATE() |
12.3 (native; on older versions use STRTODATE()) |
TRUNC() |
12.2 |
Oracle treats empty strings as NULL. sqlmode=ORACLE does not activate this automatically — EMPTYSTRINGISNULL must be added separately:
SET sql_mode = 'ORACLE,EMPTY_STRING_IS_NULL';Without EMPTYSTRINGIS_NULL, '' is not NULL in MariaDB even in Oracle mode.
|| as string concatenation (NULL-ignoring)MINUS as synonym for EXCEPT (10.6+):1, :2) in prepared statementsSELECT UNIQUE as synonym for SELECT DISTINCTDUAL table supportThese Oracle features have no direct equivalent and require code changes:
SYNONYM — replace with views (CREATE VIEW) or update object references directlyINSERT ALL / INSERT FIRST — rewrite as multiple INSERT statements or application logic(+) outer join syntax — supported natively since MariaDB 12.1 in Oracle mode. On older versions rewrite as LEFT JOIN / RIGHT JOIN:``sql -- Oracle: SELECT FROM a, b WHERE a.id = b.id(+); -- MariaDB: SELECT FROM a LEFT JOIN b ON a.id = b.id; ``
START WITH ... CONNECT BY — rewrite as recursive CTE:``sql -- MariaDB equivalent: WITH RECURSIVE tree AS ( SELECT id, parentid, name FROM categories WHERE parentid IS NULL UNION ALL SELECT c.id, c.parentid, c.name FROM categories c JOIN tree t ON c.parentid = t.id ) SELECT * FROM tree; ``
TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE — store timezone offset in a separate column or handle in applicationautocommit variable and defaults to manual commit — an INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE is not durable until you run an explicit COMMIT. MariaDB is the opposite: autocommit is ON by default, so each statement commits immediately. To preserve Oracle's batch-then-commit behavior, wrap units of work in START TRANSACTION ... COMMIT or set autocommit=0. See Oracle's Transactions concepts guide.SYSDATE: In MariaDB Oracle mode, SYSDATE works but returns DATETIME. Verify date-only comparisons.DUAL: Works in MariaDB but not identically — avoid schema-qualified references like schema.DUAL.CREATE SEQUENCE works in MariaDB 10.3+ with Oracle-compatible syntax (MINVALUE, MAXVALUE, INCREMENT BY).DROP USER with active sessions (12.1+): Oracle-compatible behavior — in Oracle mode, DROP USER fails if the user has active sessions; in other modes, it issues a warning.For topics not covered here, see the official MariaDB documentation at mariadb.com/docs.