[...]
 # MariaDB-specific config file.
 # Read by /etc/mysql/my.cnf

 [client]
 # Default is Latin1, if you need UTF-8 set this (also in server section)
 default-character-set = utf8

 [mysqld]
 #
 # * Character sets
 #
 # Default is Latin1, if you need UTF-8 set all this (also in client section)
 #
 character-set-server   = utf8
 collation-server       = utf8_general_ci
 character_set_server   = utf8
 collation_server       = utf8_general_ci
 [...]