MariaDB - cannot set max_connections and wait_timeout through my.cnf

 My /etc/my.cnf file:

[mysqld]
#skip-grant-tables
datadir=/data/mysql
socket=/data/mysql/mysql.sock
# Disabling symbolic-links is recommended to prevent assorted security risks
symbolic-links=0

# network
connect_timeout = 61
wait_timeout = 86400
max_connections = 100000
max_allowed_packet = 64M
max_connect_errors = 1000

# limits
tmp_table_size = 512M
max_heap_table_size = 256M
table_cache = 512

[mysqld_safe]
log-error=/var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log
pid-file=/var/run/mariadb/mariadb.pid

[client]
port = 3306
socket= /data/mysql/mysql.sock

But when I check max_connections and wait_timeout variables in MariaDB, it shows the default value:

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'max_connections';
+-----------------+-------+
| Variable_name   | Value |
+-----------------+-------+
| max_connections | 214   |
+-----------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'wait_timeout';
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| wait_timeout  | 28800 |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

However, other parameters in my.cnf are correct:

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'max_allowed_packet';
+--------------------+----------+
| Variable_name      | Value    |
+--------------------+----------+
| max_allowed_packet | 67108864 |
+--------------------+----------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)


MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'max_connect_errors';
+--------------------+-------+
| Variable_name      | Value |
+--------------------+-------+
| max_connect_errors | 1000  |
+--------------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'connect_timeout';
+-----------------+-------+
| Variable_name   | Value |
+-----------------+-------+
| connect_timeout | 61    |
+-----------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

I can set max_connections variable from mysql command line but it resets itself when I restart the service:

MariaDB [(none)]> set global max_connections := 10000;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'max_connections';
+-----------------+-------+
| Variable_name   | Value |
+-----------------+-------+
| max_connections | 10000 |
+-----------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Hower, for wait_timeout this does not work:

MariaDB [(none)]> set global wait_timeout = 86400;                                                                            Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> show variables like 'wait_timeout';                                                                         +---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| wait_timeout  | 28800 |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

wait timeout is set as a session variable:

MariaDB [(none)]> SELECT * FROM information_schema.global_variables WHERE variable_name='wait_timeout' UNION SELECT * FROM information_schema.session_variables WHERE variable_name='wait_timeout';
+---------------+----------------+
| VARIABLE_NAME | VARIABLE_VALUE |
+---------------+----------------+
| WAIT_TIMEOUT  | 86400          |
| WAIT_TIMEOUT  | 28800          |
+---------------+----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Checked all my.cnf files, none of the is overriding the parameters:

[/] # locate my.cnf
/etc/my.cnf
/etc/my.cnf.d
/etc/my.cnf~
/etc/my.cnf.d/client.cnf
/etc/my.cnf.d/mysql-clients.cnf
/etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf
/root/.my.cnf

OS: RHEL 7

MariaDB version: mariadb-server-5.5.47-1.el7_2.x86_64