diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 5dca2eebc27ef9b90878bcb1c59e43782a9a7db5..7b640b789498916aaecbc8dd8a971d22c3d57452 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 # ** end header
 #
 #
+variables:
+   MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: caosdb1234
 
 services:
   - name: mariadb:10.4