SUMMARY The default akonadiserverrc created on my system has a line: ServerPath=/usr/bin/mariadb I needed to change 'mariadb' to 'mariadbd' before akonadi would start STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. run `akonadictl start` for the first time OBSERVED RESULT ❯ akonadictl start org.kde.pim.akonadictl: Starting Akonadi Server... org.kde.pim.akonadictl: done. Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString) ~ ❯ qt.qpa.services: Failed to register with host portal QDBusError("org.freedesktop.portal.Error.Failed", "Could not register app ID: App info not found for 'org.kde.akonadi_control'") org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Starting up the Akonadi Server... org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Failed to detect mysqld version! org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: database server stopped unexpectedly org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: executable: "/usr/bin/mariadb" org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: arguments: QList("--defaults-file=/home/paul/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/paul/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.socket", "--pid-file=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.pid") org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stdout: "" org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stderr: "/usr/bin/mariadb: unknown variable 'datadir=/home/paul/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/'\n/usr/bin/mariadb: unknown variable 'pid-file=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.pid'\n" org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: exit code: 7 org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: process error: "Unknown error" org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: See "/home/paul/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/mysql.err" for more details org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Shutting down AkonadiServer... org.kde.pim.akonadicontrol: Application '/usr/bin/akonadiserver' exited normally... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Changing 'mariadb' to 'mariadbd' in the file `$HOME/.config/akonadi/akonadiserverrc` fixed the problem
looking at the current akonadi CMakeLists.txt , it definitely looks for mariadbd (and not mariadb) I don't think there's anything we need to fix. no idea how /usr/bin/mariadb ended up in your config file.
(In reply to Allen Winter from comment #1) > no idea how /usr/bin/mariadb ended up in your config file. Because that's the default value if mariadb was not found at build time https://invent.kde.org/pim/akonadi/-/blob/v25.12.0/src/server/storage/dbconfigmysql.cpp?ref_type=tags#L106 This is inconsistent with the cmake code.
A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/pim/akonadi/-/merge_requests/333
Git commit 07c4196d0a4f90dd56abd80afc870e2196b8505c by Allen Winter. Committed on 07/01/2026 at 19:38. Pushed by aacid into branch 'master'. dbconfigmysql.cpp - fallback to "mariadbd", not "mariadb" FIXED-IN: 6.6.1 M +1 -1 src/server/storage/dbconfigmysql.cpp https://invent.kde.org/pim/akonadi/-/commit/07c4196d0a4f90dd56abd80afc870e2196b8505c
Git commit 6ebae31371afc23a4f0c91b3d69878dac428a136 by Albert Astals Cid, on behalf of Allen Winter. Committed on 07/01/2026 at 21:30. Pushed by aacid into branch 'release/25.12'. dbconfigmysql.cpp - fallback to "mariadbd", not "mariadb" FIXED-IN: 6.6.1 (cherry picked from commit 07c4196d0a4f90dd56abd80afc870e2196b8505c) M +1 -1 src/server/storage/dbconfigmysql.cpp https://invent.kde.org/pim/akonadi/-/commit/6ebae31371afc23a4f0c91b3d69878dac428a136