Chapter 2. Installing and Upgrading MySQL Server

The MySQL server has two installation formats, and the MySQL server itself runs on more than sixteen different operating system platforms. The top three operating system platforms for MySQL are covered in some depth: GNU/Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Sun Solaris.

Tip

For information on how to install the MySQL server on Mac OS X, see the MySQL manual page at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/6.0/en/mac-os-x-installation.html.

This chapter takes you through the bare bones of what you need to get the MySQL server (also known as mysqld) up and running, including the initial configuration. For more complete configuration tuning, see Chapter 10. It then delves into upgrading mysqld, which is very similar to installation. The chapter ends with troubleshooting assistance.

Before Installation

Before installing, you must choose what to install. You have two basic installation formats to choose from when performing an installation—source code installation and binary file installation. A source code installation means that you download the actual source code and then compile the code on your server in order to actually install the software. With a binary installation the server software is precompiled and ready to install. Think of it as the difference between preparing a meal by combining ingredients and cooking them and getting takeout from the local ...

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