End of Product LifecycleActive development and support for MySQL database server versions 3.23, 4.0, and 4.1 have ended. For MySQL 4.0 and 4.1, there is still extended support available, though. For details, see http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/lifecycle/#calendar.According to the MySQL Lifecycle Policy (see http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/lifecycle/#policy), only Security Level 1 issues will still be fixed for those versions. Please consider upgrading to a recent version (MySQL 5.0 or 5.1).
This chapter describes how to obtain and install MySQL. A summary of
the procedure follows and later sections provide the details. If you
plan to upgrade an existing version of MySQL to a newer version
rather than install MySQL for the first time, see
Section 2.11, “Upgrading MySQL”, for information about upgrade procedures
and about issues that you should consider before upgrading.
Determine whether MySQL runs and is
supported on your platform. Please note that not all
platforms are equally suitable for running MySQL, and that not
all platforms on which MySQL is known to run are officially
supported by MySQL AB. See Section 2.1.1, “Operating Systems On Which MySQL Is Known To Run”, for
details.
Choose which distribution to
install. Several versions of MySQL are available, and
most are available in several distribution formats. You can
choose from pre-packaged distributions containing binary
(precompiled) programs or source code. When in doubt, use a
binary distribution. We also provide public access to our
current source tree for those who want to see our most recent
developments and help us test new code. To determine which
version and type of distribution you should use, see
Section 2.1.2, “Choosing Which MySQL Distribution to Install”.
Perform any necessary post-installation
setup. After installing MySQL, read
Section 2.10, “Post-Installation Setup and Testing”. This section contains
important information about making sure the MySQL server is
working properly. It also describes how to secure the initial
MySQL user accounts, which have no
passwords until you assign passwords. The section
applies whether you install MySQL using a binary or source
distribution.
Before installing MySQL, you should do the following:
Determine whether MySQL runs on your platform.
Choose a distribution to install.
Download the distribution and verify its integrity.
This section contains the information necessary to carry out these
steps. After doing so, you can use the instructions in later
sections of the chapter to install the distribution that you
choose.
2.1.1. Operating Systems On Which MySQL Is Known To Run
This section lists the operating systems on which MySQL is known
to run.
Important: MySQL AB does not
necessarily provide official support for all the platforms
listed in this section. For information about those platforms
which MySQL AB officially supports, see
MySQL
Server Supported Platforms on the MySQL Web site.
We use GNU Autoconf, so it is possible to port MySQL to all
modern systems that have a C++ compiler and a working
implementation of POSIX threads. (Thread support is needed for
the server. To compile only the client code, the only
requirement is a C++ compiler.) We use and develop the software
ourselves primarily on Linux (SuSE and Red Hat), FreeBSD, and
Sun Solaris (versions 8 and 9).
MySQL has been reported to compile successfully on the following
combinations of operating system and thread package. Note that
for many operating systems, native thread support works only in
the latest versions.
Not all platforms are equally well-suited for running MySQL. How
well a certain platform is suited for a high-load
mission-critical MySQL server is determined by the following
factors:
General stability of the thread library. A platform may have
an excellent reputation otherwise, but MySQL is only as
stable as the thread library it calls, even if everything
else is perfect.
The capability of the kernel and the thread library to take
advantage of symmetric multi-processor (SMP) systems. In
other words, when a process creates a thread, it should be
possible for that thread to run on a CPU different from the
original process.
The capability of the kernel and the thread library to run
many threads that acquire and release a mutex over a short
critical region frequently without excessive context
switches. If the implementation of
pthread_mutex_lock() is too anxious to
yield CPU time, this hurts MySQL tremendously. If this issue
is not taken care of, adding extra CPUs actually makes MySQL
slower.
General filesystem stability and performance.
If your tables are large, performance is affected by the
ability of the filesystem to deal with large files at all
and to deal with them efficiently.
Our level of expertise here at MySQL AB with the platform.
If we know a platform well, we enable platform-specific
optimizations and fixes at compile time. We can also provide
advice on configuring your system optimally for MySQL.
The amount of testing we have done internally for similar
configurations.
The number of users that have run MySQL successfully on the
platform in similar configurations. If this number is high,
the likelihood of encountering platform-specific surprises
is much smaller.
Based on the preceding criteria, the best platforms for running
MySQL at this point are x86 with SuSE Linux using a 2.4 or 2.6
kernel, and ReiserFS (or any similar Linux distribution) and
SPARC with Solaris (2.7-9). FreeBSD comes third, but we really
hope it joins the top club once the thread library is improved.
We also hope that at some point we are able to include into the
top category all other platforms on which MySQL currently
compiles and runs, but not quite with the same level of
stability and performance. This requires some effort on our part
in cooperation with the developers of the operating systems and
library components that MySQL depends on. If you are interested
in improving one of those components, are in a position to
influence its development, and need more detailed instructions
on what MySQL needs to run better, send an email message to the
MySQL internals mailing list. See
Section 1.7.1, “MySQL Mailing Lists”.
Please note that the purpose of the preceding comparison is not
to say that one operating system is better or worse than another
in general. We are talking only about choosing an OS for the
specific purpose of running MySQL. With this in mind, the result
of this comparison might be different if other factors were
considered. In some cases, the reason one OS is better for MySQL
than another might simply be that we have been able to put more
effort into testing and optimizing for a particular platform. We
are just stating our observations to help you decide which
platform to use for running MySQL.
2.1.2. Choosing Which MySQL Distribution to Install
When preparing to install MySQL, you should decide which version
to use. MySQL development occurs in several release series, and
you can pick the one that best fits your needs. After deciding
which version to install, you can choose a distribution format.
Releases are available in binary or source format.
2.1.2.1. Choosing Which Version of MySQL to Install
The first decision to make is whether you want to use a
production (stable) release or a development release. In the
MySQL development process, multiple release series co-exist,
each at a different stage of maturity:
MySQL 5.1 is the current development release series.
MySQL 5.0 is the current stable (production-quality)
release series. New releases are issued for bugfixes only;
no new features are being added that could effect
stability.
MySQL 4.1 is the previous stable (production-quality)
release series. New releases are issued for critical
bugfixes and security fixes. No significant new features
are to be added to this series.
MySQL 4.0 and 3.23 are the old stable (production-quality)
release series. These versions are now retired, so new
releases are issued only to fix extremely critical bugs
(primarily security issues).
We do not believe in a complete code freeze because this
prevents us from making bugfixes and other fixes that must be
done. By “somewhat frozen” we mean that we may
add small things that should not affect anything that
currently works in a production release. Naturally, relevant
bugfixes from an earlier series propagate to later series.
Normally, if you are beginning to use MySQL for the first time
or trying to port it to some system for which there is no
binary distribution, we recommend going with the production
release series. Currently, this is MySQL 5.0. All MySQL
releases, even those from development series, are checked with
the MySQL benchmarks and an extensive test suite before being
issued.
If you are running an older system and want to upgrade, but do
not want to take the chance of having a non-seamless upgrade,
you should upgrade to the latest version in the same release
series you are using (where only the last part of the version
number is newer than yours). We have tried to fix only fatal
bugs and make only small, relatively “safe”
changes to that version.
If you want to use new features not present in the production
release series, you can use a version from a development
series. Note that development releases are not as stable as
production releases.
If you want to use the very latest sources containing all
current patches and bugfixes, you can use one of our BitKeeper
repositories. These are not “releases” as such,
but are available as previews of the code on which future
releases are to be based.
The MySQL naming scheme uses release names that consist of
three numbers and a suffix; for example,
mysql-4.1.2-alpha. The numbers within the
release name are interpreted like this:
The first number (4) is the major
version and also describes the file format. All version 4
releases have the same file format.
The second number (1) is the release
level. Taken together, the major version and release level
constitute the release series number.
The third number (2) is the version
number within the release series. This is incremented for
each new release. Usually you want the latest version for
the series you have chosen.
For each minor update, the last number in the version string
is incremented. When there are major new features or minor
incompatibilities with previous versions, the second number in
the version string is incremented. When the file format
changes, the first number is increased.
Release names also include a suffix to indicates the stability
level of the release. Releases within a series progress
through a set of suffixes to indicate how the stability level
improves. The possible suffixes are:
alpha indicates that the
release is for preview purposes only. Known bugs should be
documented in the News section (see
Appendix C, MySQL Change History). Most alpha releases implement new
commands and extensions. Active development that may
involve major code changes can occur in an alpha release.
However, we do conduct testing before issuing a release.
beta indicates that the
release is appropriate for use with new development.
Within beta releases, the features and compatibility
should remain consistent. However, beta releases may
contain numerous and major unaddressed bugs.
All APIs, externally visible structures, and columns for
SQL statements will not change during future beta, release
candidate, or production releases.
rc indicates a Release
Candidate. Release candidates are believed to be stable,
having passed all of MySQL's internal testing, and with
all known fatal runtime bugs fixed. However, the release
has not been in widespread use long enough to know for
sure that all bugs have been identified. Only minor fixes
are added. (A release candidate is what formerly was known
as a gamma release.)
If there is no suffix, it indicates that the release is a
General Availability (GA) or Production release. GA
releases are stable, having successfully passed through
all earlier release stages and are believed to be
reliable, free of serious bugs, and suitable for use in
production systems. Only critical bugfixes are applied to
the release.
MySQL uses a naming scheme that is slightly different from
most other products. In general, it is usually safe to use any
version that has been out for a couple of weeks without being
replaced by a new version within the same release series.
All releases of MySQL are run through our standard tests and
benchmarks to ensure that they are relatively safe to use.
Because the standard tests are extended over time to check for
all previously found bugs, the test suite keeps getting
better.
All releases have been tested at least with these tools:
An internal test suite
The mysql-test directory contains an
extensive set of test cases. We run these tests for every
server binary. See Section 19.1.2, “MySQL Test Suite”, for
more information about this test suite.
The MySQL benchmark suite
This suite runs a range of common queries. It is also a
test to determine whether the latest batch of
optimizations actually made the code faster. See
Section 7.1.4, “The MySQL Benchmark Suite”.
We also test the newest MySQL version in our internal
production environment, on at least one machine. We have more
than 100GB of data to work with.
2.1.2.2. Choosing a Distribution Format
After choosing which version of MySQL to install, you should
decide whether to use a binary distribution or a source
distribution. In most cases, you should probably use a binary
distribution, if one exists for your platform. Binary
distributions are available in native format for many
platforms, such as RPM files for Linux or PKG package
installers for Mac OS X or Solaris. Distributions also are
available as Zip archives or compressed tar
files.
Reasons to choose a binary distribution include the following:
Binary distributions generally are easier to install than
source distributions.
To satisfy different user requirements, we provide two
different binary versions. One is compiled with the core
feature set. The other (MySQL-Max) is compiled with an
extended feature set. Both versions are compiled from the
same source distribution. All native MySQL clients can
connect to servers from either MySQL version.
For RPM distributions, if you want to use the
MySQL-Max RPM, you must first install
the standard MySQL-server RPM.
Under some circumstances, you may be better off installing
MySQL from a source distribution:
You want to install MySQL at some explicit location. The
standard binary distributions are ready to run at any
installation location, but you might require even more
flexibility to place MySQL components where you want.
You want to configure mysqld to ensure
that features are available that might not be included in
the standard binary distributions. Here is a list of the
most common extra options that you may want to use to
ensure feature availability:
--with-berkeley-db (not available on
all platforms)
--with-raid
--with-libwrap
--with-named-z-libs (this is done for
some of the binaries)
--with-debug[=full]
You want to configure mysqld without
some features that are included in the standard binary
distributions. For example, distributions normally are
compiled with support for all character sets. If you want
a smaller MySQL server, you can recompile it with support
for only the character sets you need.
You have a special compiler (such as
pgcc) or want to use compiler options
that are better optimized for your processor. Binary
distributions are compiled with options that should work
on a variety of processors from the same processor family.
You want to use the latest sources from one of the
BitKeeper repositories to have access to all current
bugfixes. For example, if you have found a bug and
reported it to the MySQL development team, the bugfix is
committed to the source repository and you can access it
there. The bugfix does not appear in a release until a
release actually is issued.
You want to read (or modify) the C and C++ code that makes
up MySQL. For this purpose, you should get a source
distribution, because the source code is always the
ultimate manual.
Source distributions contain more tests and examples than
binary distributions.
2.1.2.3. How and When Updates Are Released
MySQL is evolving quite rapidly and we want to share new
developments with other MySQL users. We try to produce a new
release whenever we have new and useful features that others
also seem to have a need for.
We also try to help users who request features that are easy
to implement. We take note of what our licensed users want,
and we especially take note of what our support customers want
and try to help them in this regard.
No one is required to download a new
release. The News section helps you determine whether the new
release has something you really want. See
Appendix C, MySQL Change History.
We use the following policy when updating MySQL:
Releases are issued within each series. For each release,
the last number in the version is one more than the
previous release within the same series.
Production (stable) releases are meant to appear about 1-2
times a year. However, if small bugs are found, a release
with only bugfixes is issued.
Working releases/bugfixes to old releases are meant to
appear about every 4-8 weeks.
Binary distributions for some platforms are made by us for
major releases. Other people may make binary distributions
for other systems, but probably less frequently.
We make fixes available as soon as we have identified and
corrected small or non-critical but annoying bugs. The
fixes are available immediately from our public BitKeeper
repositories, and are included in the next release.
If by any chance a fatal bug is found in a release, our
policy is to fix it in a new release as soon as possible.
(We would like other companies to do this, too!)
2.1.2.4. Release Philosophy—No Known Bugs in Releases
We put considerable time and effort into making our releases
bug-free. Our policy is never to release a version of MySQL
intended for production use that has any known fatal,
repeatable bugs.
Our aim is to fix everything that is fixable without making a
stable MySQL version less stable. In certain cases, this means
we can fix an issue in the development versions, but not in
the stable (production) version. Naturally, we document such
issues so that users are aware of them.
Here is a description of our build process:
We monitor bugs from our customer support list, the bugs
database at http://bugs.mysql.com/, and the
MySQL external mailing lists.
All reported bugs for live versions are entered into the
bugs database.
When we fix a bug, we always try to make a test case for
it and include it into our test system to ensure that the
bug can never recur without being detected. (About 90% of
all fixed bugs have test cases.)
We create test cases for each new feature that we add to
MySQL.
Before we start to build a new MySQL release, we ensure
that all reported repeatable bugs for that MySQL version
(3.23.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.x, 5.0.x, 5.1.x, and so on) are fixed.
If something is impossible to fix due to some internal
design decision in MySQL, we document this in the manual.
See Section A.8, “Known Issues in MySQL”.
We do a build on all platforms for which we support
binaries and run our test suite and benchmark suite on all
of them.
We do not publish a binary for a platform for which the
test or benchmark suite fails. If the problem is due to a
general error in the source, we fix it and do the build
plus tests on all systems again from scratch.
The build and test process takes a week. If we receive a
report regarding a fatal bug during this process (for
example, one that causes a core dump), we fix the problem
and restart the build process.
After publishing the binaries on
http://dev.mysql.com/, we send out an
announcement message to the mysql and
announce mailing lists. See
Section 1.7.1, “MySQL Mailing Lists”. The announcement message
contains a list of all changes to the release and any
known problems with the release. The
Known Problems section in
the release notes has been needed for only a handful of
releases.
To quickly give our users access to the latest MySQL
features, we try to produce a new MySQL release every 4-8
weeks. Source code snapshots are built daily and are
available at
http://downloads.mysql.com/snapshots.php.
If, despite our best efforts, we receive any bug reports
after a release is issued that a critical problem exists
for the build on a specific platform, we fix it at once
and build a new 'a' release for that
platform. Thanks to our large user base, problems are
found and resolved very quickly.
Our track record for making stable releases is quite good.
In the last 150 releases, we had to do a new build for
fewer than 10 of them. In three of these cases, the bug
was a faulty glibc library on one of
our build machines that took us a long time to track down.
2.1.2.5. MySQL Binaries Compiled by MySQL AB
As a service of MySQL AB, we provide a set of binary
distributions of MySQL that are compiled on systems at our
site or on systems where supporters of MySQL kindly have given
us access to their machines.
RPM distributions prior to MySQL 3.22 are user-contributed.
Beginning with MySQL 3.22, RPM distributions that we make
available through our Web site are generated by MySQL AB.
These distributions are generated using the script
Build-tools/Do-compile, which compiles the
source code and creates the binary tar.gz
archive using
scripts/make_binary_distribution.
These binaries are configured and built with the following
compilers and options. This information can also be obtained
by looking at the variables COMP_ENV_INFO
and CONFIGURE_LINE inside the script
bin/mysqlbug of every binary
tar file distribution.
Anyone who has more optimal options for any of the following
configure commands can mail them to the
MySQL internals mailing list. See
Section 1.7.1, “MySQL Mailing Lists”.
If you want to compile a debug version of MySQL, you should
add --with-debug or
--with-debug=full to the following
configure commands and remove any
-fomit-frame-pointer options.
The following binaries are built on MySQL AB development
systems:
Note that versions 8.1 and newer of the Intel compiler
have separate drivers for 'pure' C
(icc) and C++
(icpc); if you use
icc version 8.0 or older for building
MySQL, you will need to set CXX=icc.
Linux 2.4.xx Intel Itanium 2 with ecc
(Intel C++ Itanium Compiler 7.0):
The following binaries are built on third-party systems kindly
provided to MySQL AB by other users. These are provided only
as a courtesy; MySQL AB does not have full control over these
systems, so we can provide only limited support for the
binaries built on them.
The following compile options have been used for binary
packages that MySQL AB provided in the past. These binaries no
longer are being updated, but the compile options are listed
here for reference purposes.
Check our downloads page at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/
for information about the current version of MySQL and for
downloading instructions. For a complete up-to-date list of
MySQL download mirror sites, see
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mirrors.html. You can also
find information there about becoming a MySQL mirror site and
how to report a bad or out-of-date mirror.
After you have downloaded the MySQL package that suits your
needs and before you attempt to install it, you should make sure
that it is intact and has not been tampered with. MySQL AB
offers three means of integrity checking:
MD5 checksums
Cryptographic signatures using GnuPG, the
GNU Privacy Guard
For RPM packages, the built-in RPM integrity verification
mechanism
The following sections describe how to use these methods.
If you notice that the MD5 checksum or GPG signatures do not
match, first try to download the respective package one more
time, perhaps from another mirror site. If you repeatedly cannot
successfully verify the integrity of the package, please notify
us about such incidents, including the full package name and the
download site you have been using, at
<webmaster@mysql.com> or
<build@mysql.com>. Do not report downloading
problems using the bug-reporting system.
2.1.4.1. Verifying the MD5 Checksum
After you have downloaded a MySQL package, you should make
sure that its MD5 checksum matches the one provided on the
MySQL download pages. Each package has an individual checksum
that you can verify with the following command, where
package_name is the name of the
package you downloaded:
You should verify that the resulting checksum (the string of
hexadecimal digits) matches the one displayed on the download
page immediately below the respective package.
Note: Make sure to verify the
checksum of the archive file (for
example, the .zip or
.tar.gz file) and not of the files that are
contained inside of the archive.
Note that not all operating systems support the
md5sum command. On some, it is simply
called md5, and others do not ship it at
all. On Linux, it is part of the GNU
Text Utilities package, which is available for a
wide range of platforms. You can download the source code from
http://www.gnu.org/software/textutils/ as well.
If you have OpenSSL installed, you can use the command
openssl md5
package_name instead. A
Windows implementation of the md5 command
line utility is available from
http://www.fourmilab.ch/md5/.
winMd5Sum is a graphical MD5 checking tool
that can be obtained from
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/winmd5sum.
2.1.4.2. Signature Checking Using GnuPG
Another method of verifying the integrity and authenticity of
a package is to use cryptographic signatures. This is more
reliable than using MD5 checksums, but requires more work.
Beginning with MySQL 4.0.10 (February 2003), MySQL AB started
signing downloadable packages with GnuPG
(GNU Privacy Guard).
GnuPG is an Open Source alternative to the
very well-known Pretty Good Privacy
(PGP) by Phil Zimmermann. See
http://www.gnupg.org/ for more information
about GnuPG and how to obtain and install
it on your system. Most Linux distributions ship with
GnuPG installed by default. For more
information about OpenPGP, see
http://www.openpgp.org/.
To verify the signature for a specific package, you first need
to obtain a copy of MySQL AB's public GPG build key, which you
can download from http://www.keyserver.net/.
The key that you want to obtain is named
build@mysql.com. Alternatively, you can cut
and paste the key directly from the following text:
To import the build key into your personal public GPG keyring,
use gpg --import. For example, if you have
saved the key in a file named
mysql_pubkey.asc, the import command
looks like this:
shell> gpg --import mysql_pubkey.asc
After you have downloaded and imported the public build key,
download your desired MySQL package and the corresponding
signature, which also is available from the download page. The
signature file has the same name as the distribution file with
an .asc extension. For example:
Distribution file
mysql-standard-4.0.17-pc-linux-i686.tar.gz
Signature file
mysql-standard-4.0.17-pc-linux-i686.tar.gz.asc
Make sure that both files are stored in the same directory and
then run the following command to verify the signature for the
distribution file:
shell> gpg --verify package_name.asc
Example:
shell> gpg --verify mysql-standard-4.0.17-pc-linux-i686.tar.gz.asc
gpg: Warning: using insecure memory!
gpg: Signature made Mon 03 Feb 2003 08:50:39 PM MET
using DSA key ID 5072E1F5
gpg: Good signature from
"MySQL Package signing key (www.mysql.com) <build@mysql.com>"
The Good signature message indicates that
everything is all right. You can ignore any insecure
memory warning you might obtain.
See the GPG documentation for more information on how to work
with public keys.
2.1.4.3. Signature Checking Using RPM
For RPM packages, there is no separate signature. RPM packages
have a built-in GPG signature and MD5 checksum. You can verify
a package by running the following command:
shell> rpm --checksig package_name.rpm
Example:
shell> rpm --checksig MySQL-server-4.0.10-0.i386.rpm
MySQL-server-4.0.10-0.i386.rpm: md5 gpg OK
Note: If you are using RPM
4.1 and it complains about (GPG) NOT OK (MISSING
KEYS: GPG#5072e1f5), even though you have imported
the MySQL public build key into your own GPG keyring, you need
to import the key into the RPM keyring first. RPM 4.1 no
longer uses your personal GPG keyring (or GPG itself). Rather,
it maintains its own keyring because it is a system-wide
application and a user's GPG public keyring is a user-specific
file. To import the MySQL public key into the RPM keyring,
first obtain the key as described in
Section 2.1.4.2, “Signature Checking Using GnuPG”. Then use
rpm --import to import the key. For
example, if you have saved the public key in a file named
mysql_pubkey.asc, import it using this
command:
This section describes the default layout of the directories
created by installing binary or source distributions provided by
MySQL AB. A distribution provided by another vendor might use a
layout different from those shown here.
On Windows, the default installation directory is
C:\mysql. With MySQL version 4.1.5 and
higher, this has changed to C:\Program
Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 4.1, where 4.1 is the major
version of the installation. The folder has the following
subdirectories:
Directory
Contents of Directory
bin
Client programs and the mysqld server
data
Log files, databases
Docs
Manual in CHM format
examples
Example programs and scripts
include
Include (header) files
lib
Libraries
scripts
Utility scripts
share
Error message files
Installations created from MySQL AB's Linux RPM distributions
result in files under the following system directories:
Directory
Contents of Directory
/usr/bin
Client programs and scripts
/usr/sbin
The mysqld server
/var/lib/mysql
Log files, databases
/usr/share/info
Manual in Info format
/usr/share/man
Unix manual pages
/usr/include/mysql
Include (header) files
/usr/lib/mysql
Libraries
/usr/share/mysql
Error message and character set files
/usr/share/sql-bench
Benchmarks
On Unix, a tar file binary distribution is
installed by unpacking it at the installation location you
choose (typically /usr/local/mysql) and
creates the following directories in that location:
Directory
Contents of Directory
bin
Client programs and the mysqld server
data
Log files, databases
docs
Manual in Info format
man
Unix manual pages
include
Include (header) files
lib
Libraries
scripts
mysql_install_db
share/mysql
Error message files
sql-bench
Benchmarks
A source distribution is installed after you configure and
compile it. By default, the installation step installs files
under /usr/local, in the following
subdirectories:
Directory
Contents of Directory
bin
Client programs and scripts
include/mysql
Include (header) files
Docs
Manual in Info, CHM formats
man
Unix manual pages
lib/mysql
Libraries
libexec
The mysqld server
share/mysql
Error message files
sql-bench
Benchmarks and crash-me test
var
Databases and log files
Within its installation directory, the layout of a source
installation differs from that of a binary installation in the
following ways:
The mysqld server is installed in the
libexec directory rather than in the
bin directory.
The data directory is var rather than
data.
mysql_install_db is installed in the
bin directory rather than in the
scripts directory.
The header file and library directories are
include/mysql and
lib/mysql rather than
include and lib.
You can create your own binary installation from a compiled
source distribution by executing the
scripts/make_binary_distribution script
from the top directory of the source distribution.
2.2. Standard MySQL Installation Using a Binary Distribution
The next several sections cover the installation of MySQL on
platforms where we offer packages using the native packaging
format of the respective platform. (This is also known as
performing a “binary install.”) However, binary
distributions of MySQL are available for many other platforms as
well. See Section 2.8, “Installing MySQL on Other Unix-Like Systems”, for generic
installation instructions for these packages that apply to all
platforms.
A native Windows distribution of MySQL has been available from
MySQL AB since version 3.21 and represents a sizable percentage of
the daily downloads of MySQL. This section describes the process
for installing MySQL on Windows.
With the release of MySQL 4.1.5, MySQL AB has introduced a new
installer for the Windows version of MySQL, combined with a new
GUI Configuration Wizard. This combination automatically installs
MySQL, creates an option file, starts the server, and secures the
default user accounts.
Note: If you are upgrading MySQL
from an existing installation older than MySQL 4.1.5, you must
first perform the the procedure described in
Section 2.3.14, “Upgrading MySQL on Windows”.
To run MySQL on Windows, you need the following:
A 32-bit Windows operating system such as 9x, Me, NT, 2000,
XP, or Windows Server 2003.
A Windows NT-based operating system (NT, 2000, XP, 2003)
permits you to run the MySQL server as a service. The use of a
Windows NT-based operating system is strongly recommended. See
Section 2.3.11, “Starting MySQL as a Windows Service”.
Generally, you should install MySQL on Windows using an
account that has administrator rights. Otherwise, you may
encounter problems with certain operations such as editing the
PATH environment variable or accessing the
Service Control Manager.
TCP/IP protocol support.
Enough space on the hard drive to unpack, install, and create
the databases in accordance with your requirements (generally
a minimum of 200 megabytes is recommended.)
There may also be other requirements, depending on how you plan to
use MySQL:
If you plan to connect to the MySQL server via ODBC, you need
a Connector/ODBC driver. See Chapter 18, Connectors.
If you need tables with a size larger than 4GB, install MySQL
on an NTFS or newer filesystem. Don't forget to use
MAX_ROWS and
AVG_ROW_LENGTH when you create tables. See
Section 13.1.5, “CREATE TABLE Syntax”.
MySQL for Windows is available in several distribution formats:
Binary distributions are available that contain a setup
program that installs everything you need so that you can
start the server immediately. Another binary distribution
format contains an archive that you simply unpack in the
installation location and then configure yourself. For
details, see Section 2.3.1, “Choosing An Installation Package”.
The source distribution contains all the code and support
files for building the executables using the Visual Studio 7.1
compiler system.
Generally speaking, you should use a binary distribution that
includes an installer. It is simpler to use than the others, and
you need no additional tools to get MySQL up and running. The
installer for the Windows version of MySQL, combined with a GUI
Configuration Wizard, automatically installs MySQL, creates an
option file, starts the server, and secures the default user
accounts.
Starting with MySQL version 4.1.5, there are three install
packages to choose from when installing MySQL on Windows. The
Packages are as follows:
The Essentials Package:
This package has a filename similar to
mysql-essential-4.1.13a-win32.msi and
contains the minimum set of files needed to install MySQL on
Windows, including the Configuration Wizard. This package
does not include optional components such as the embedded
server and benchmark suite.
The Complete Package: This
package has a filename similar to
mysql-4.1.13a-win32.zip and contains
all files needed for a complete Windows installation,
including the Configuration Wizard. This package includes
optional components such as the embedded server and
benchmark suite.
The Noinstall Archive: This
package has a filename similar to
mysql-noinstall-4.1.13a-win32.zip and
contains all the files found in the Complete install
package, with the exception of the Configuration Wizard.
This package does not include an automated installer, and
must be manually installed and configured.
The Essentials package is recommended for most users. It is
provided as an .msi file for use with the
Windows Installer. The Complete and Noinstall distributions are
packaged as Zip archives. To use them, you must have a tool that
can unpack .zip files.
2.3.2. Installing MySQL with the Automated Installer
Starting with MySQL 4.1.5, users can use the new MySQL
Installation Wizard and MySQL Configuration Wizard to install
MySQL on Windows. The MySQL Installation Wizard and MySQL
Configuration Wizard are designed to install and configure MySQL
in such a way that new users can immediately get started using
MySQL.
The MySQL Installation Wizard and MySQL Configuration Wizard are
available in the Essentials and Complete install packages. They
are recommended for most standard MySQL installations.
Exceptions include users who need to install multiple instances
of MySQL on a single server host and advanced users who want
complete control of server configuration.
MySQL Installation Wizard is an installer for the MySQL server
that uses the latest installer technologies for Microsoft
Windows. The MySQL Installation Wizard, in combination with
the MySQL Configuration Wizard, allows a user to install and
configure a MySQL server that is ready for use immediately
after installation.
The MySQL Installation Wizard is the standard installer for
all MySQL server distributions, version 4.1.5 and higher.
Users of previous versions of MySQL need to shut down and
remove their existing MySQL installations manually before
installing MySQL with the MySQL Installation Wizard. See
Section 2.3.3.7, “Upgrading MySQL with the Installation Wizard”, for more
information on upgrading from a previous version.
Microsoft has included an improved version of their Microsoft
Windows Installer (MSI) in the recent versions of Windows. MSI
has become the de-facto standard for application installations
on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. The
MySQL Installation Wizard makes use of this technology to
provide a smoother and more flexible installation process.
The Microsoft Windows Installer Engine was updated with the
release of Windows XP; those using a previous version of
Windows can reference
this
Microsoft Knowledge Base article for information on
upgrading to the latest version of the Windows Installer
Engine.
In addition, Microsoft has introduced the WiX (Windows
Installer XML) toolkit recently. This is the first highly
acknowledged Open Source project from Microsoft. We have
switched to WiX because it is an Open Source project and it
allows us to handle the complete Windows installation process
in a flexible manner using scripts.
Improving the MySQL Installation Wizard depends on the support
and feedback of users like you. If you find that the MySQL
Installation Wizard is lacking some feature important to you,
or if you discover a bug, please report it in our bugs
database using the instructions given in
Section 1.8, “How to Report Bugs or Problems”.
2.3.3.2. Downloading and Starting the MySQL Installation Wizard
The MySQL installation packages can be downloaded from
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. If the package you
download is contained within a Zip archive, you need to
extract the archive first.
The process for starting the wizard depends on the contents of
the installation package you download. If there is a
setup.exe file present, double-click it
to start the installation process. If there is an
.msi file present, double-click it to
start the installation process.
2.3.3.3. Choosing an Install Type
There are three installation types available:
Typical,
Complete, and
Custom.
The Typical installation type
installs the MySQL server, the mysql
command-line client, and the command-line utilities. The
command-line clients and utilities include
mysqldump, myisamchk,
and several other tools to help you manage the MySQL server.
The Complete installation
type installs all components included in the installation
package. The full installation package includes components
such as the embedded server library, the benchmark suite,
support scripts, and documentation.
The Custom installation type
gives you complete control over which packages you wish to
install and the installation path that is used. See
Section 2.3.3.4, “The Custom Install Dialog”, for
more information on performing a custom install.
If you choose the Typical or
Complete installation types
and click the Next button, you advance
to the confirmation screen to verify your choices and begin
the installation. If you choose the
Custom installation type and
click the Next button, you advance to
the custom installation dialog, described in
Section 2.3.3.4, “The Custom Install Dialog”.
2.3.3.4. The Custom Install Dialog
If you wish to change the installation path or the specific
components that are installed by the MySQL Installation
Wizard, choose the Custom
installation type.
A tree view on the left side of the custom install dialog
lists all available components. Components that are not
installed have a red X icon; components
that are installed have a gray icon. To change whether a
component is installed, click on that component's icon and
choose a new option from the drop-down list that appears.
You can change the default installation path by clicking the
Change... button to the right of the
displayed installation path.
After choosing your installation components and installation
path, click the Next button to advance
to the confirmation dialog.
2.3.3.5. The Confirmation Dialog
Once you choose an installation type and optionally choose
your installation components, you advance to the confirmation
dialog. Your installation type and installation path are
displayed for you to review.
To install MySQL if you are satisfied with your settings,
click the Install button. To change
your settings, click the Back button.
To exit the MySQL Installation Wizard without installing
MySQL, click the Cancel button.
After installation is complete, you have the option of
registering with the MySQL web site. Registration gives you
access to post in the MySQL forums at
forums.mysql.com,
along with the ability to report bugs at
bugs.mysql.com and
to subscribe to our newsletter. The final screen of the
installer provides a summary of the installation and gives you
the option to launch the MySQL Configuration Wizard, which you
can use to create a configuration file, install the MySQL
service, and configure security settings.
2.3.3.6. Changes Made by MySQL Installation Wizard
Once you click the Install button, the
MySQL Installation Wizard begins the installation process and
makes certain changes to your system which are described in
the sections that follow.
Changes to the Registry
The MySQL Installation Wizard creates one Windows registry key
in a typical install situation, located in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MySQL AB.
The MySQL Installation Wizard creates a key named after the
major version of the server that is being installed, such as
MySQL Server 4.1. It contains two string
values, Location and
Version. The Location
string contains the path to the installation directory. In a
default installation it contains C:\Program
Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 4.1\. The
Version string contains the release number.
For example, for an installation of MySQL Server 4.1.5, the
key contains a value of 4.1.5.
These registry keys are used to help external tools identify
the installed location of the MySQL server, preventing a
complete scan of the hard-disk to determine the installation
path of the MySQL server. The registry keys are not required
to run the server, and if you install MySQL using the
noinstall Zip archive, the registry keys
are not created.
Changes to the Start Menu
The MySQL Installation Wizard creates a new entry in the
Windows Start menu under a common MySQL
menu heading named after the major version of MySQL that you
have installed. For example, if you install MySQL 4.1, the
MySQL Installation Wizard creates a MySQL Server 4.1 section
in the start menu.
The following entries are created within the new
Start menu section:
MySQL Command Line Client: This
is a shortcut to the mysql command-line
client and is configured to connect as the
root user. The shortcut prompts for a
root user password when you connect.
MySQL Server Instance Config
Wizard: This is a shortcut to the MySQL
Configuration Wizard. Use this shortcut to configure a
newly installed server, or to reconfigure an existing
server.
MySQL Documentation: This is a
link to the MySQL server documentation that is stored
locally in the MySQL server installation directory. This
option is not available when the MySQL server is installed
from the Essentials installation package.
Changes to the File System
The MySQL Installation Wizard by default installs the MySQL
server to C:\Program
Files\MySQL\MySQL Server
4.1, where
Program Files is the default
location for applications in your system, and
4.1 is the major version of your
MySQL server. This is the new location for the MySQL server,
replacing the former default location of
c:\mysql.
By default, all MySQL applications are stored in a common
directory at C:\Program
Files\MySQL, where
Program Files is the default
location for applications in your Windows installation. A
typical MySQL installation on a developer machine might look
like this:
This approach makes it easier to manage and maintain all MySQL
applications installed on a particular system.
2.3.3.7. Upgrading MySQL with the Installation Wizard
From MySQL version 4.1.5, the new MySQL Installation Wizard
can perform server upgrades automatically using the upgrade
capabilities of MSI. That means you do not need to remove a
previous installation manually before installing a new
release. The installer automatically shuts down and removes
the previous MySQL service before installing the new version.
Automatic upgrades are available only when upgrading between
installations that
