Control: severity -1 normal I am sorry but I am not able to replicate this bug. So it cannot at least be common, thus downgrading severity.
Please figure out a way for me to replicate it so I can debug what is happening. Also, check out if there is any output at /var/log/mysql/* Here are is an example of steps I used to debug Jessie mysql-5.5 -> Buster mariadb-10.3 upgrade with systemd active: laptop$ docker run -d --privileged --name upgrade-test -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro jrei/systemd-debian laptop$ docker exec -it upgrade-test bash container$ sed -i "s/101/0/g" -i /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d # Enables maint script to do restarts rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list apt update && apt install -y mysql-server systemctl status mysql -> OK nano /etc/apt/sources.list -> jessie -> buster apt update && apt install -y apt procps apt install mariadb-server -y # systemctl status mysql * mariadb.service - MariaDB 10.3.13 database server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Tue 2019-04-16 08:26:15 UTC; 10s ago Docs: man:mysqld(8) https://mariadb.com/kb/en/library/systemd/ Process: 7138 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/install -m 755 -o mysql -g root -d /var/run/mysqld (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 7145 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 7147 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c [ ! -e /usr/bin/galera_recovery ] && VAR= || VAR=`/usr/bin/galera_recovery`; [ $? -eq 0 ] && systemctl set-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION=$VAR || exit 1 (code=exite d, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 7226 ExecStartPost=/etc/mysql/debian-start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 7229 ExecStartPost=/bin/sh -c systemctl unset-environment _WSREP_START_POSITION (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Main PID: 7195 (mysqld) Status: "Taking your SQL requests now..." Tasks: 31 (limit: 4915) Memory: 66.4M CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service/system.slice/mariadb.service `-7195 /usr/sbin/mysqld Apr 16 08:26:14 f3554bc9396a systemd[1]: Starting MariaDB 10.3.13 database server... Apr 16 08:26:15 f3554bc9396a mysqld[7195]: 2019-04-16 8:26:15 0 [Note] /usr/sbin/mysqld (mysqld 10.3.13-MariaDB-2) starting as process 7195 ... Apr 16 08:26:15 f3554bc9396a /etc/mysql/debian-start[7228]: Upgrading MySQL tables if necessary. Apr 16 08:26:15 f3554bc9396a /etc/mysql/debian-start[7246]: Triggering myisam-recover for all MyISAM tables and aria-recover for all Aria tables Apr 16 08:26:15 f3554bc9396a systemd[1]: Started MariaDB 10.3.13 database server. So no problems here. We also have extensive testing in Salsa (e.g. https://salsa.debian.org/mariadb-team/mariadb-10.3/pipelines/43484) and it does not show any problems in upgrades.