The release notes state the following:

New Server Requirements: PHP 7.1.0 or higher required (7.3.x now supported). MySQL 5.5.3 or higher requires (5.6.2 recommended).

 

My site is running PHP 7.2.15 and MySQL 5.5.5-10.3.13-MariaDB.  I realize MySQL 5.5.5 meets the min requirement, but what is the MariaDB equivalent of 5.6.2 (recommend MySQL version)?

MySQL 5.6 is compatible with MariaDB 10.0 and MySQL 5.7 is compatible with MariaDB 10.2 and 10.3.

You can also check versions on this site from MariaDB.

OK, so if my site is running MariaDB 10.3.13, why is there a MySQL 5.5.5 versioning to it?  Why does my site say MySQL 5.5.5-10.3.13-MariaDB versus just 10.3.13-MariaDB?  I thought it was one (MySQL) or the other (MariaDB) that is your DB.

From the MariaDB link you provided:

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This means that for most cases, you can just uninstall MySQL and install MariaDB and you are good to go. (No need to convert any datafiles if you use same main version, like 5.1). You must however still run mysql_upgrade to finish the upgrade. This is needed to ensure that your mysql privilege and event tables are updated with the new fields MariaDB uses.

And if there is a 5.6.2 recommendation for IPS, then am I to assume despite the MySQL 5.5.5 versioning on my site, that MariaDB 10.3.13 is compatible (equivalent to meeting the requirement) with MySQL 5.6.2 per the following:

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MySQL 5.6 is compatible with MariaDB 10.0 and MySQL 5.7 is compatible with MariaDB 10.2). What this means is that:

 

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OK, so if my site is running MariaDB 10.3.13, why is there a MySQL 5.5.5 versioning to it?

I'm only guessing but maybe Mysql is also still installed (the 5.5.5 version), but as said this is guessing. So now I'm curious too as why this happens. 🙂

  On 3/3/2019 at 7:39 PM, Black Tiger said:

I'm only guessing but maybe Mysql is also still installed (the 5.5.5 version), but as said this is guessing. So now I'm curious too as why this happens. 🙂

Because the last fork MariaDB made from Mysql was in 5.5.5 and it still shows that reference. Since MariaDB 10.0 that they dropped the forks from mysql and now they just import Mysql functionalities and add their own ones.

  On 3/3/2019 at 9:10 PM, RevengeFNF said:

Because the last fork MariaDB made from Mysql was in 5.5.5 and it still shows that reference. Since MariaDB 10.0 that they dropped the forks from mysql and now they just import Mysql functionalities and add their own ones.

Ah, so it will always show MySQL 5.5.5-{MariaDB-x.y.z version}-MariaDB?  So when I see IPS saying MySQL a.b.c is required, how do I determine if the version of MariaDB I'm running under is compatible with MySQL a.b.c?

For example, the MariaDB site says "MySQL 5.7 is compatible with MariaDB 10.2", does this also read as backward compatibility or equivalency?

 

Also if I'm running MariaDB 10.3.13, and MariaDB dropped the MySQL forking reference in 10.0, why do I still see it in the version on my hosting server?

Yes, that means MariaDB 10.2 will work. MariaDB 10.3 also works and i already tested the new beta of MariaDB 10.4 and it also works with IPS.