MariaDB root login fails when deploying Kiwi TCMS using Helm chart

[kashidsh1]

Description of problem

irst of all, thank you very much for building and maintaining such a great product. I really appreciate the effort that has gone into Kiwi TCMS.

I recently performed a quick evaluation of Kiwi TCMS in my local environment using the standalone installation, and everything worked perfectly.

Following that, my manager asked me to deploy Kiwi TCMS using the official Helm chart. I was happy to find the Helm chart repository and documentation available on GitHub.

Setup Details

Installation method: Helm chart

Repository: https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi/tree/master/helm

Environment: Local Kubernetes cluster

MariaDB image: Bitnami MariaDB

I cloned the repository and followed the installation instructions exactly as documented. The Helm installation completes successfully.

Version or commit hash (if applicable)

Latest helm chart :

helm upgrade --install kiwi ./helm
--namespace kiwi
--create-namespace
--set mariadb.image.tag=latest
--set mariadb.auth.rootPassword='StrongRootPass123!'
--set mariadb.auth.password='StrongUserPass123!'
--set mariadb.auth.database=kiwi
--set mariadb.auth.username=kiwi

Steps to Reproduce

Initial helm chart installation steps followed. Also created secret

kubectl create secret generic kiwi-credentials
-n kiwi
--from-literal=mariadb-root-password='StrongRootPass123!'
--from-literal=mariadb-password='StrongUserPass123!'
--from-literal=mariadb-user=kiwi
--from-literal=mariadb-database=kiwi

Actual results

Issue Encountered

Although the pods start successfully, I am seeing repeated MariaDB authentication failures for the root user.

Below are the relevant MariaDB logs:

2026-01-02 9:48:37 0 [Note] /opt/bitnami/mariadb/sbin/mariadbd: ready for connections.
Version: '12.1.2-MariaDB' socket: '/opt/bitnami/mariadb/tmp/mysql.sock' port: 0 Source distribution
2026-01-02 9:49:07 3 [Warning] Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)
2026-01-02 9:49:17 4 [Warning] Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)
Pod status

NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
kiwi-0 0/1 Pending 0 3d21h
kiwi-mariadb-0 0/1 Running 23 (2m49s ago) 3d17h

Actual Behavior

MariaDB starts successfully

Root login fails with Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost'

This happens repeatedly during startup/runtime

Expected results

The MariaDB root user should be able to authenticate successfully using the password configured via the Helm values.

###Request for Guidance

Could you please advise on:

Whether this is a known issue with the Helm chart?

If there are any additional configuration steps required for MariaDB credentials

Or if the root password needs to be configured differently for Helm-based installations

Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.