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2 MySQL Installation

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2 MySQL Installation

This chapter describes how to obtain and install MySQL:

2.1 Quick Standard Installation of MySQL

2.1.1 Installing MySQL on Linux

The recommended way to install MySQL on Linux is by using an RPM file. The MySQL RPMs are currently being built on a RedHat Version 6.2 system but should work on other versions of Linux that support rpm and use glibc.

If you have problems with an RPM file, for example, if you receive the error ``Sorry, the host 'xxxx' could not be looked up''—see section 2.6.1.1 Linux Notes for Binary Distributions.

The RPM files you may want to use are:

To see all files in an RPM package, run:

shell> rpm -qpl MySQL-VERSION.i386.rpm

To perform a standard minimal installation, run:

shell> rpm -i MySQL-VERSION.i386.rpm MySQL-client-VERSION.i386.rpm

To install just the client package, run:

shell> rpm -i MySQL-client-VERSION.i386.rpm

The RPM places data in `/var/lib/mysql'. The RPM also creates the appropriate entries in `/etc/rc.d/' to start the server automatically at boot time. (This means that if you have performed a previous installation, you may want to make a copy of your previously installed MySQL startup file if you made any changes to it, so you don't lose your changes.)

After installing the RPM file(s), the mysqld daemon should be running and you should now be able to start using MySQL. See section 2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing.

If something goes wrong, you can find more information in the binary installation chapter. See section 2.2.7 Installing a MySQL Binary Distribution.

2.1.2 Installing MySQL on Windows

The MySQL server for Windows is available in two distribution types:

  1. The binary distribution contains a setup program which installs everything you need so that you can start the server immediately.
  2. The source distribution contains all the code and support files for building the executables using the VC++ 6.0 compiler. See section 2.3.7 Windows Source Distribution.

Generally speaking, you should use the binary distribution.

You will need the following:

2.1.2.1 Installing the Binaries

  1. If you are working on an NT/2000/XP server, logon as a user with with administrator privileges.
  2. If you are doing an upgrade of an earlier MySQL installation, it is necessary to stop the server. If you are running the server as a service, use:
    C:\> NET STOP MySQL
    
    Otherwise, use:
    C:\mysql\bin> mysqladmin -u root shutdown
    
  3. On NT/2000/XP machines, if you want to change the server executable (e.g., -max or -nt), it is also necessary to remove the service:
    C:\mysql\bin> mysqld-max-nt --remove
    
  4. Unzip the distribution file to a temporary directory.
  5. Run the `setup.exe' file to begin the installation process. If you want to install into another directory than the default `c:\mysql', use the Browse button to specify your preferred directory.
  6. Finish the install process.

2.1.2.2 Preparing the Windows MySQL Environment

Starting with MySQL 3.23.38, the Windows distribution includes both the normal and the MySQL-Max server binaries. Here is a list of the different MySQL servers you can use:

Binary Description
mysqld Compiled with full debugging and automatic memory allocation checking, symbolic links, InnoDB, and BDB tables.
mysqld-opt Optimised binary with no support for transactional tables.
mysqld-nt Optimised binary for NT/2000/XP with support for named pipes. You can run this version on Windows 9x/Me, but in this case no named pipes are created and you must have TCP/IP installed.
mysqld-max Optimised binary with support for symbolic links, InnoDB and BDB tables.
mysqld-max-nt Like mysqld-max, but compiled with support for named pipes.

Starting from 3.23.50, named pipes are only enabled if one starts mysqld with --enable-named-pipe.

All of the preceding binaries are optimised for the Pentium Pro processor but should work on any Intel processor >= i386.

You will need to use an option file to specify your MySQL configuration under the following circumstances:

Normally you can use the WinMySQLAdmin tool to edit the option file my.ini. In this case you don't have to worry about the following section.

There are two option files with the same function: `my.cnf' and `my.ini'. However, to avoid confusion, it's best if you use only of one them. Both files are plain text. The `my.cnf' file, if used, should be created in the root directory of the C drive. The `my.ini' file, if used, should be created in the Windows system directory. (This directory is typically something like `C:\WINDOWS' or `C:\WINNT'. You can determine its exact location from the value of the windir environment variable.) MySQL looks first for the my.ini file, then for the `my.cnf' file.

If your PC uses a boot loader where the C drive isn't the boot drive, your only option is to use the `my.ini' file. Also note that if you use the WinMySQLAdmin tool, it uses only the `my.ini' file. The `\mysql\bin' directory contains a help file with instructions for using this tool.

Using notepad.exe, create the option file and edit the [mysqld] section to specify values for the basedir and datadir parameters:

[mysqld]
# set basedir to installation path, e.g., c:/mysql
basedir=the_install_path
# set datadir to location of data directory,
# e.g., c:/mysql/data or d:/mydata/data
datadir=the_data_path

Note that Windows pathnames should be specified in option files using forward slashes rather than backslashes. If you do use backslashes, you must double them.

If you would like to use a data directory different from the default of `c:\mysql\data', you must copy the entire contents of the `c:\mysql\data' directory to the new location.

If you want to use the InnoDB transactional tables, you need to manually create two new directories to hold the InnoDB data and log files—e.g., `c:\ibdata' and `c:\iblogs'. You will also need to add some extra lines to the option file. See section 7.5.2 InnoDB Startup Options.

If you don't want to use InnoDB tables, add the skip-innodb option to the option file.

Now you are ready to test starting the server.

2.1.2.3 Starting the Server for the First Time

Testing from a DOS command prompt is the best thing to do because the server displays status messages that appear in the DOS window. If something is wrong with your configuration, these messages will make it easier for you to identify and fix any problems.

Make sure you are in the directory where the server is located, then enter this command:

C:\mysql\bin> mysqld-max --standalone

You should see the following messages as the server starts up:

InnoDB: The first specified datafile c:\ibdata\ibdata1 did not exist:
InnoDB: a new database to be created!
InnoDB: Setting file c:\ibdata\ibdata1 size to 209715200
InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...
InnoDB: Log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile0 did not exist: new to be created
InnoDB: Setting log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile0 size to 31457280
InnoDB: Log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile1 did not exist: new to be created
InnoDB: Setting log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile1 size to 31457280
InnoDB: Log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile2 did not exist: new to be created
InnoDB: Setting log file c:\iblogs\ib_logfile2 size to 31457280
InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer not found: creating new
InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer created
InnoDB: creating foreign key constraint system tables
InnoDB: foreign key constraint system tables created
011024 10:58:25  InnoDB: Started

For further information about running MySQL on Windows, see section 2.6.2 Windows Notes.

2.2 General Installation Issues

2.2.1 How to Get MySQL

Check the MySQL homepage (http://www.mysql.com/) for information about the current version and for downloading instructions.

Our main mirror is located at http://mirrors.sunsite.dk/mysql/.

For a complete upto-date list of MySQL web/download mirrors, see http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mirrors.html. There you will also find information about becoming a MySQL mirror site and how to report a bad or out-of-date mirror.

2.2.2 Operating Systems Supported by MySQL

We use GNU Autoconf, so it is possible to port MySQL to all modern systems with working Posix threads and a C++ compiler. (To compile only the client code, a C++ compiler is required but not threads.) We use and develop the software ourselves primarily on Sun Solaris (Versions 2.5 - 2.7) and SuSE Linux Version 7.x.

Note that for many operating systems, the native thread support works only in the latest versions. MySQL has been reported to compile successfully on the following operating system/thread package combinations:

Note that not all platforms are suited equally well for running MySQL. How well a certain platform is suited for a high-load mission-critical MySQL server is determined by the following factors:

Based on the preceding criteria, the best platforms for running MySQL at this point are x86 with SuSE Linux 7.1, 2.4 kernel, and ReiserFS (or any similar Linux distribution) and SPARC with Solaris 2.7 or 2.8. FreeBSD comes third, but we really hope it will join the top club once the thread library is improved. We also hope that at some point we will be able to include all other platforms on which MySQL compiles, runs okay, but not quite with the same level of stability and performance, into the top category. This will require some effort on our part in cooperation with the developers of the OS/library components MySQL depends upon. If you are interested in making one of those components better, are in a position to influence their development, and need more detailed instructions on what MySQL needs to run better, send an e-mail to internals@lists.mysql.com.

Please note that the preceding comparison is not to say that one OS is better or worse than the other in general. We are talking about choosing a particular OS for a dedicated purpose—running MySQL, and compare platforms in that regard only. With this in mind, the result of this comparison would be different if we included more issues into it. And in some cases, the reason one OS is better than the other could simply be that we have put forth more effort into testing on and optimising for that particular platform. We are just stating our observations to help you decide on which platform to use MySQL on in your setup.

2.2.3 Which MySQL Version to Use

The first decision to make is whether you want to use the latest development release or the last stable release:

The second decision to make is whether you want to use a source distribution or a binary distribution. In most cases you should probably use a binary distribution, if one exists for your platform, as this generally will be easier to install than a source distribution.

In the following cases you probably will be better off with a source installation:

The MySQL naming scheme uses release numbers that consist of three numbers and a suffix. For example, a release name like mysql-3.21.17-beta is interpreted like this:

All versions 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.

Note that all releases have been tested at least with:

An internal test suite
This is part of a production system for a customer. It has many tables with hundreds of megabytes of data.
The MySQL benchmark suite
This runs a range of common queries. It is also a test to see whether the latest batch of optimisations actually made the code faster. See section 5.1.4 The MySQL Benchmark Suite.
The crash-me test
This tries to determine what features the database supports and what its capabilities and limitations are. See section 5.1.4 The MySQL Benchmark Suite.

Another test is that we use the newest MySQL version in our internal production environment, on at least one machine. We have more than 100 gigabytes of data to work with.

2.2.4 Installation Layouts

This section describes the default layout of the directories created by installing binary and source distributions.

A 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
`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
`info' Documentation in Info format
`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 an installation directory, the layout of a source installation differs from that of a binary installation in the following ways:

You can create your own binary installation from a compiled source distribution by executing the script `scripts/make_binary_distribution'.

2.2.5 How and When Updates Are Released

MySQL is evolving quite rapidly here at MySQL AB and we want to share this with other MySQL users. We try to make a release when we have very useful features that others seem to have a need for.

We also try to help out users who request features that are easy to implement. We take note of what our licensed users want to have, and we especially take note of what our extended e-mail supported customers want and try to help them out.

No one has to download a new release. The News section will tell you if the new release has something you really want. See section D MySQL Change History.

We use the following policy when updating MySQL:

The current stable release is Version 3.23; we have already moved active development to Version 4.0. Bugs will still be fixed in the stable version. We don't believe in a complete freeze, as this also leaves out bug fixes and things that ``must be done.'' ``Somewhat frozen'' means that we may add small things that ``almost surely will not affect anything that's already working.''

MySQL uses a slightly different naming scheme from most other products. In general it's relatively safe to use any version that has been out for a couple of weeks without being replaced with a new version. See section 2.2.3 Which MySQL Version to Use.

2.2.6 MySQL Binaries Compiled by MySQL AB

As a service, we at MySQL AB provide a set of binary distributions of MySQL that are compiled at our site or at sites where customers kindly have given us access to their machines.

These distributions are generated with scripts/make_binary_distribution and are configured with the following compilers and options:

SunOS 4.1.4 2 sun4c with gcc 2.7.2.1
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -felide-constructors" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --disable-shared --with-extra-charsets=complex --enable-assembler
SunOS 5.5.1 (and above) sun4u with egcs 1.0.3a or 2.90.27 or gcc 2.95.2 and newer
CC=gcc CFLAGS="-O3" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-low-memory --with-extra-charsets=complex --enable-assembler
SunOS 5.6 i86pc with gcc 2.8.1
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-low-memory --with-extra-charsets=complex
Solaris 2.8 sparc with gcc 2.95.3
CC=gcc CFLAGS="-O3 -fno-omit-frame-pointer" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql "--with-comment=Official MySQL binary" --with-extra-charsets=complex "--with-server-suffix=" --enable-thread-safe-client --enable-local-infile --enable-assembler --disable-shared
Linux 2.0.33 i386 with pgcc 2.90.29 (egcs 1.0.3a)
CFLAGS="-O3 -mpentium -mstack-align-double" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -mpentium -mstack-align-double -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --enable-assembler --with-mysqld-ldflags=-all-static --with-extra-charsets=complex
Linux 2.2.x with x686 with gcc 2.95.2
CFLAGS="-O3 -mpentiumpro" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -mpentiumpro -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --enable-assembler --with-mysqld-ldflags=-all-static --disable-shared --with-extra-charsets=complex
SCO 3.2v5.0.4 i386 with gcc 2.7-95q4
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex
AIX 2 4 with gcc 2.7.2.2
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex
OSF/1 V4.0 564 alpha with gcc 2.8.1
CC=gcc CFLAGS=-O CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-low-memory --with-extra-charsets=complex
Irix 6.3 IP32 with gcc 2.8.0
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex
BSDI BSD/OS 3.1 i386 with gcc 2.7.2.1
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex
BSDI BSD/OS 2.1 i386 with gcc 2.7.2
CC=gcc CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS=-O3 ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex
FreeBSD 4.4-stable i386 with gcc 2.95.3
CC=gcc CFLAGS="-O3 -fno-omit-frame-pointer" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql "--with-comment=Official MySQL binary" --with-extra-charsets=complex "--with-server-suffix=" --enable-thread-safe-client --enable-local-infile --enable-assembler --with-named-z-libs=not-used --disable-shared

Anyone who has more optimal options for any of the preceding configurations listed can always mail them to the developer's mailing list at internals@lists.mysql.com.

RPM distributions prior to MySQL Version 3.22 are user-contributed. Beginning with Version 3.22, the RPMs are generated by us at MySQL AB.

If you want to compile a debug version of MySQL, you should add --with-debug or --with-debug=full to the preceding configure lines and remove any -fomit-frame-pointer options.

For the Windows distribution, please see section 2.1.2 Installing MySQL on Windows.

2.2.7 Installing a MySQL Binary Distribution

See also section 2.1.2.1 Installing the Binaries, section 2.1.1 Installing MySQL on Linux, and section 8.4.7 Building Client Programs.

You need the following tools to install a MySQL binary distribution:

An alternative installation method under Linux is to use RPM (RedHat Package Manager) distributions. See section 2.1.1 Installing MySQL on Linux.

If you run into problems, please always use mysqlbug when posting questions to mysql@lists.mysql.com. Even if the problem isn't a bug, mysqlbug gathers system information that will help others solve your problem. By not using mysqlbug, you lessen the likelihood of getting a solution to your problem! You will find mysqlbug in the `bin' directory after you unpack the distribution. See section 1.6.2.3 How to Report Bugs or Problems.

The basic commands you must execute to install and use a MySQL binary distribution are:

shell> groupadd mysql
shell> useradd -g mysql mysql
shell> cd /usr/local
shell> gunzip < /path/to/mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz | tar xvf -
shell> ln -s full-path-to-mysql-VERSION-OS mysql
shell> cd mysql
shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
shell> chown -R root  .
shell> chown -R mysql data
shell> chgrp -R mysql .
shell> bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &
or
shell> bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &
if you are running MySQL 4.x

You can add new users using the bin/mysql_setpermission script if you install the DBI and Msql-Mysql-modules Perl modules.

A more detailed description follows.

To install a binary distribution, follow these steps, then proceed to section 2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing, for post-installation setup and testing:

  1. Pick the directory under which you want to unpack the distribution, and move into it. In the following example, we unpack the distribution under `/usr/local' and create a directory `/usr/local/mysql' into which MySQL is installed. (The following instructions, therefore, assume you have permission to create files in `/usr/local'. If that directory is protected, you will need to perform the installation as root.)
  2. Obtain a distribution file from one of the sites listed in section 2.2.1 How to Get MySQL. MySQL binary distributions are provided as compressed tar archives and have names like `mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz', where VERSION is a number (for example, 3.21.15), and OS indicates the type of operating system for which the distribution is intended (for example, pc-linux-gnu-i586).
  3. If you see a binary distribution marked with the -max suffix, this means that the binary has support for transaction-safe tables and other features. See section 4.7.5 mysqld-max, An Extended mysqld Server. Note that all binaries are built from the same MySQL source distribution.
  4. Add a user and group for mysqld to run as:
    shell> groupadd mysql
    shell> useradd -g mysql mysql
    
    These commands add the mysql group and the mysql user. The syntax for useradd and groupadd may differ slightly on different versions of Unix. They may also be called adduser and addgroup. You may wish to call the user and group something else instead of mysql.
  5. Change into the intended installation directory:
    shell> cd /usr/local
    
  6. Unpack the distribution and create the installation directory:
    shell> gunzip < /path/to/mysql-VERSION-OS.tar.gz | tar xvf -
    shell> ln -s full-path-to-mysql-VERSION-OS mysql
    
    The first command creates a directory named `mysql-VERSION-OS'. The second command makes a symbolic link to that directory. This lets you refer more easily to the installation directory as `/usr/local/mysql'.
  7. Change into the installation directory:
    shell> cd mysql
    
    You will find several files and subdirectories in the mysql directory. The most important for installation purposes are the `bin' and `scripts' subdirectories.
    `bin'
    This directory contains client programs and the server You should add the full pathname of this directory to your PATH environment variable so that your shell finds the MySQL programs properly. See section F Environment Variables.
    `scripts'
    This directory contains the mysql_install_db script used to initialise the mysql database containing the grant tables that store the server access permissions.
  8. If you would like to use mysqlaccess and have the MySQL distribution in some non-standard place, you must change the location where mysqlaccess expects to find the mysql client. Edit the `bin/mysqlaccess' script at approximately line 18. Search for a line that looks like this:
    $MYSQL     = '/usr/local/bin/mysql';    # path to mysql executable
    
    Change the path to reflect the location where mysql actually is stored on your system. If you do not do this, you will get a Broken pipe error when you run mysqlaccess.
  9. Create the MySQL grant tables (necessary only if you haven't installed MySQL before):
    shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
    
    Note that MySQL versions older than Version 3.22.10 started the MySQL server when you run mysql_install_db. This is no longer true!
  10. Change ownership of binaries to root and ownership of the data directory to the user that you will run mysqld as:
    shell> chown -R root  /usr/local/mysql/.
    shell> chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/data
    shell> chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/.
    
    The first command changes the owner attribute of the files to the root user, the second one changes the owner attribute of the data directory to the mysql user, and the third one changes the group attribute to the mysql group.
  11. If you want to install support for the Perl DBI/DBD interface, see section 2.7 Perl Installation Comments.
  12. If you would like MySQL to start automatically when you boot your machine, you can copy support-files/mysql.server to the location where your system has its startup files. More information can be found in the support-files/mysql.server script itself and in section 2.4.3 Starting and Stopping MySQL Automatically.

After everything has been unpacked and installed, you should initialise and test your distribution.

You can start the MySQL server with the following command:

shell> bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &

Now proceed to section 4.7.2 safe_mysqld, The Wrapper Around mysqld, and See section 2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing.

2.3 Installing a MySQL Source Distribution

Before you proceed with the source installation, check first to see if our binary is available for your platform and if it will work for you. We put a lot of effort into making sure that our binaries are built with the best possible options.

You need the following tools to build and install MySQL from source:

If you are using a recent version of gcc, recent enough to understand the -fno-exceptions option, it is very important that you use it. Otherwise, you may compile a binary that crashes randomly. We also recommend that you use -felide-constructors and -fno-rtti along with -fno-exceptions. When in doubt, do the following:


CFLAGS="-O3" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions \
       -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --enable-assembler \
       --with-mysqld-ldflags=-all-static

On most systems this will give you a fast and stable binary.

If you run into problems, please always use mysqlbug when posting questions to mysql@lists.mysql.com. Even if the problem isn't a bug, mysqlbug gathers system information that will help others solve your problem. By not using mysqlbug, you lessen the likelihood of getting a solution to your problem! You will find mysqlbug in the `scripts' directory after you unpack the distribution. See section 1.6.2.3 How to Report Bugs or Problems.

2.3.1 Quick Installation Overview

The basic commands you must execute to install a MySQL source distribution are:

shell> groupadd mysql
shell> useradd -g mysql mysql
shell> gunzip < mysql-VERSION.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
shell> cd mysql-VERSION
shell> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql
shell> make
shell> make install
shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
shell> chown -R root  /usr/local/mysql
shell> chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/var
shell> chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql
shell> cp support-files/my-medium.cnf /etc/my.cnf
shell> /usr/local/mysql/bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &
or
shell> /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &
if you are running MySQL 4.x.

If you want to have support for InnoDB tables, you should edit the /etc/my.cnf file and remove the # character before the parameter that starts with innodb_.... See section 4.1.2 `my.cnf' Option Files, and section 7.5.2 InnoDB Startup Options.

If you start from a source RPM, do the following:

shell> rpm --rebuild MySQL-VERSION.src.rpm

This will make a binary RPM that you can install.

You can add new users using the bin/mysql_setpermission script if you install the DBI and Msql-Mysql-modules Perl modules.

A more detailed description follows.

To install a source distribution, follow these steps, then proceed to section 2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing, for post-installation initialisation and testing:

  1. Pick the directory under which you want to unpack the distribution, and move into it.
  2. Obtain a distribution file from one of the sites listed in section 2.2.1 How to Get MySQL.
  3. If you are interested in using Berkeley DB tables with MySQL, you will need to obtain a patched version of the Berkeley DB source code. Please read the chapter on Berkeley DB tables before proceeding. See section 7.6 BDB or BerkeleyDB Tables. MySQL source distributions are provided as compressed tar archives and have names like `mysql-VERSION.tar.gz', where VERSION is a number like 4.0.5.
  4. Add a user and group for mysqld to run as:
    shell> groupadd mysql
    shell> useradd -g mysql mysql
    
    These commands add the mysql group and the mysql user. The syntax for useradd and groupadd may differ slightly on different versions of Unix. They may also be called adduser and addgroup. You may wish to call the user and group something else instead of mysql.
  5. Unpack the distribution into the current directory:
    shell> gunzip < /path/to/mysql-VERSION.tar.gz | tar xvf -
    
    This command creates a directory named `mysql-VERSION'.
  6. Change into the top-level directory of the unpacked distribution:
    shell> cd mysql-VERSION
    
    Note that currently you must configure and build MySQL from this top-level directory. You cannot build it in a different directory.
  7. Configure the release and compile everything:
    shell> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql
    shell> make
    
    When you run configure, you might want to specify some options. Run ./configure --help for a list of options. section 2.3.3 Typical configure Options, discusses some of the more useful options. If configure fails, and you are going to send mail to mysql@lists.mysql.com to ask for assistance, please include any lines from `config.log' that you think can help solve the problem. Also include the last couple of lines of output from configure if configure aborts. Post the bug report using the mysqlbug script. See section 1.6.2.3 How to Report Bugs or Problems. If the compile fails, see section 2.3.5 Problems Compiling?, for help with a number of common problems.
  8. Install everything:
    shell> make install
    
    You might need to run this command as root.
  9. Create the MySQL grant tables (necessary only if you haven't installed MySQL before):
    shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
    
    Note that MySQL versions older than Version 3.22.10 started the MySQL server when you run mysql_install_db. This is no longer true!
  10. Change ownership of binaries to root and ownership of the data directory to the user that you will run mysqld as:
    shell> chown -R root  /usr/local/mysql
    shell> chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/var
    shell> chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql
    
    The first command changes the owner attribute of the files to the root user, the second one changes the owner attribute of the data directory to the mysql user, and the third one changes the group attribute to the mysql group.
  11. If you want to install support for the Perl DBI/DBD interface, see section 2.7 Perl Installation Comments.
  12. If you would like MySQL to start automatically when you boot your machine, you can copy support-files/mysql.server to the location where your system has its startup files. More information can be found in the support-files/mysql.server script itself and in section 2.4.3 Starting and Stopping MySQL Automatically.

After everything has been installed, you should initialise and test your distribution:

shell> /usr/local/mysql/bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &

If that command fails immediately with mysqld daemon ended, you can find some information in the file `mysql-data-directory/'hostname'.err'. The likely reason is that you already have another mysqld server running. See section 4.1.4 Running Multiple MySQL Servers on the Same Machine.

Now proceed to section 2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing.

2.3.2 Applying Patches

Sometimes patches appear on the mailing list or are placed in the patches area of the MySQL web site (http://www.mysql.com/Downloads/Patches/).

To apply a patch from the mailing list, save the message in which the patch appears in a file, change into the top-level directory of your MySQL source tree, and run these commands:

shell> patch -p1 < patch-file-name
shell> rm config.cache
shell> make clean

Patches from the FTP site are distributed as plain text files or as files compressed with gzip. Apply a plain patch as shown previously for mailing list patches. To apply a compressed patch, change into the top-level directory of your MySQL source tree and run these commands:

shell> gunzip < patch-file-name.gz | patch -p1
shell> rm config.cache
shell> make clean

After applying a patch, follow the instructions for a normal source install, beginning with the ./configure step. After running the make install step, restart your MySQL server.

You may need to bring down any currently running server before you run make install. (Use mysqladmin shutdown to do this.) Some systems do not allow you to install a new version of a program if it replaces the version that is currently executing.

2.3.3 Typical configure Options

The configure script gives you a great deal of control over how you configure your MySQL distribution. Typically you do this using options on the configure command-line. You can also affect configure using certain environment variables. See section F Environment Variables. For a list of options supported by configure, run this command:

shell> ./configure --help

Some of the more commonly-used configure options are described here:

2.3.4 Installing from the Development Source Tree

Caution: You should read this section only if you are interested in helping us test our new code. If you just want to get MySQL up and running on your system, you should use a standard release distribution (either a source or binary distribution will do).

To obtain our most recent development source tree, use these instructions:

  1. Download BitKeeper from http://www.bitmover.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi. You will need Bitkeeper 2.0 or newer to access our repository.
  2. Follow the instructions to install it.
  3. After BitKeeper is installed, first go to the directory you want to work from, and then use this command if you want to clone the MySQL 3.23 branch:
    shell> bk clone bk://work.mysql.com:7000 mysql
    
    To clone the 4.0 branch, use this command instead:
    shell> bk clone bk://work.mysql.com:7001 mysql-4.0
    
    In the preceding examples the source tree will be set up in the `mysql/' or `mysql-4.0/' subdirectory of your current directory. The initial download of the source tree may take a while, depending on the speed of your connection; be patient.
  4. You will need GNU autoconf 2.52, automake 1.4, libtool, and m4 to run the next set of commands. automake (1.5) doesn't yet work.
    shell> cd mysql-4.0
    shell> bk -r get -Sq
    shell> aclocal; autoheader; autoconf;  automake;
    shell> ./configure  # Add your favorite options here
    shell> make
    
    If you get some strange error during this stage, check that you really have libtool installed! A collection of our standard configure scripts is located in the `BUILD/' subdirectory. If you are lazy, you can use `BUILD/compile-pentium-debug'. To compile on a different architecture, modify the script by removing flags that are Pentium-specific.
  5. When the build is done, run make install. Be careful with this on a production machine; the command may overwrite your live release installation. If you have another installation of MySQL, we recommand that you run ./configure with different values for the prefix, with-tcp-port, and unix-socket-path options than those used for your production server.
  6. Play hard with your new installation and try to make the new features crash. Start by running make test. See section 9.1.2 MySQL Test Suite.
  7. If you have gotten to the make stage and the distribution does not compile, please report it to bugs@lists.mysql.com. If you have installed the latest versions of the required GNU tools, and they crash trying to process our configuration files, please report that also. However, if you execute aclocal and get a command not found error or a similar problem, do not report it. Instead, make sure all the necessary tools are installed and that your PATH variable is set correctly so that your shell can find them.
  8. After the initial bk clone operation to get the source tree, you should run bk pull periodically to get the updates.
  9. You can examine the change history for the tree with all the diffs by using bk sccstool. If you see some funny diffs or code that you have a question about, do not hesitate to send e-mail to internals@lists.mysql.com. Also, if you think you have a better idea on how to do something, send an e-mail to the same address with a patch. bk diffs will produce a patch for you after you have made changes to the source. If you do not have the time to code your idea, just send a description.
  10. BitKeeper has a nice help utility that you can access via bk helptool.
  11. Please note that any commits (bk ci or bk citool) will trigger the posting of a message with the changeset to our internals mailing list, as well as the usual openlogging.org submission with just the changeset comments. Generally, you wouldn't need to use commit (since the public tree will not allow bk push), but rather use the bk diffs method described previously.

2.3.5 Problems Compiling?

All MySQL programs compile cleanly for us with no warnings on Solaris using gcc. On other systems, warnings may occur due to differences in system include files. See section 2.3.6 MIT-pthreads Notes for warnings that may occur when using MIT-pthreads. For other problems, check the following list.

The solution to many problems involves reconfiguring. If you do need to reconfigure, take note of the following:

To prevent old configuration information or object files from being used, run these commands before rerunning configure:

shell> rm config.cache
shell> make clean

Alternatively, you can run make distclean.

The following list describes some of the problems when compiling MySQL that have been found to occur most often:

2.3.6 MIT-pthreads Notes

This section describes some of the issues involved in using MIT-pthreads.

Note that on Linux you should not use MIT-pthreads but install LinuxThreads! See section 2.6.1 Linux Notes (All Linux Versions).

If your system does not provide native thread support, you will need to build MySQL using the MIT-pthreads package. This includes older FreeBSD systems, SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.4 and earlier, and some others. See section 2.2.2 Operating Systems Supported by MySQL.

2.3.7 Windows Source Distribution

You will need the following:

Building MySQL

  1. Create a work directory (e.g., workdir).
  2. Unpack the source distribution in the aforementioned directory.
  3. Start the VC++ 6.0 compiler.
  4. In the File menu, select Open Workspace.
  5. Open the `mysql.dsw' workspace you find on the work directory.
  6. From the Build menu, select the Set Active Configuration menu.
  7. Click over the screen selecting mysqld - Win32 Debug and click OK.
  8. Press F7 to begin the build of the debug server, libs, and some client applications.
  9. When the compilation finishes, copy the libs and the executables to a separate directory.
  10. Compile the release versions that you want, in the same way.
  11. Create the directory for the MySQL stuff: e.g., `c:\mysql'
  12. From the workdir directory copy for the c:\mysql directory the following directories:
    • Data
    • Docs
    • Share
  13. Create the directory `c:\mysql\bin' and copy all the servers and clients that you compiled previously.
  14. If you want, also create the `lib' directory and copy the libs that you compiled previously.
  15. Do a clean using Visual Studio.

Set up and start the server in the same way as for the binary Windows distribution. See section 2.1.2.2 Preparing the Windows MySQL Environment.

2.4 Post-installation Setup and Testing

Once you've installed MySQL (from either a binary or source distribution), you need to initialise the grant tables, start the server, and make sure that the server works okay. You may also wish to arrange for the server to be started and stopped automatically when your system starts up and shuts down.

Normally you install the grant tables and start the server like this for installation from a source distribution:

shell> ./scripts/mysql_install_db
shell> cd mysql_installation_directory
shell> ./bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &

For a binary distribution (not RPM or pkg packages), do this:

shell> cd mysql_installation_directory
shell> ./bin/mysql_install_db
shell> ./bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &

This creates the mysql database which will hold all database privileges, the test database which you can use to test MySQL, and also privilege entries for the user that run mysql_install_db and a root user (without any passwords). This also starts the mysqld server.

mysql_install_db will not overwrite any old privilege tables, so it should be safe to run in any circumstances. If you don't want to have the test database you can remove it with mysqladmin -u root drop test.

Testing is most easily done from the top-level directory of the MySQL distribution. For a binary distribution, this is your installation directory (typically something like `/usr/local/mysql'). For a source distribution, this is the main directory of your MySQL source tree.

In the commands shown in this section and in the following subsections, BINDIR is the path to the location in which programs like mysqladmin and safe_mysqld are installed. For a binary distribution, this is the `bin' directory within the distribution. For a source distribution, BINDIR is probably `/usr/local/bin', unless you specified an installation directory other than `/usr/local' when you ran configure. EXECDIR is the location in which the mysqld server is installed. For a binary distribution, this is the same as BINDIR. For a source distribution, EXECDIR is probably `/usr/local/libexec'.

Testing is described in detail:

  1. If necessary, start the mysqld server and set up the initial MySQL grant tables containing the privileges that determine how users are allowed to connect to the server. This is normally done with the mysql_install_db script:
    shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
    
    Typically, mysql_install_db needs to be run only the first time you install MySQL. Therefore, if you are upgrading an existing installation, you can skip this step. (However, mysql_install_db is quite safe to use and will not update any tables that already exist, so if you are unsure of what to do, you can always run mysql_install_db.) mysql_install_db creates six tables (user, db, host, tables_priv, columns_priv, and func) in the mysql database. A description of the initial privileges is given in section 4.3.4 Setting Up the Initial MySQL Privileges. Briefly, these privileges allow the MySQL root user to do anything, and allow anybody to create or use databases with a name of test or starting with test_. If you don't set up the grant tables, the following error will appear in the log file when you start the server:
    mysqld: Can't find file: 'host.frm'
    
    This may also happen with a binary MySQL distribution if you don't start MySQL by executing exactly ./bin/safe_mysqld! See section 4.7.2 safe_mysqld, The Wrapper Around mysqld. You might need to run mysql_install_db as root. However, if you prefer, you can run the MySQL server as an unprivileged (non-root) user, provided that the user can read and write files in the database directory. Instructions for running MySQL as an unprivileged user are given in section A.3.2 How to Run MySQL As a Normal User. If you have problems with mysql_install_db, see section 2.4.1 Problems Running mysql_install_db. There are some alternatives to running the mysql_install_db script as it is provided in the MySQL distribution:
    • You may want to edit mysql_install_db before running it, to change the initial privileges that are installed into the grant tables. This is useful if you want to install MySQL on a lot of machines with the same privileges. In this case you probably should need only to add a few extra INSERT statements to the mysql.user and mysql.db tables!
    • If you want to change things in the grant tables after installing them, you can run mysql_install_db, then use mysql -u root mysql to connect to the grant tables as the MySQL root user and issue SQL statements to modify the grant tables directly.
    • It is possible to re-create the grant tables completely after they have already been created. You might want to do this if you've already installed the tables but then want to re-create them after editing mysql_install_db.
    For more information about these alternatives, see section 4.3.4 Setting Up the Initial MySQL Privileges.
  2. Start the MySQL server like this:
    shell> cd mysql_installation_directory
    shell> bin/safe_mysqld &
    
    If you have problems starting the server, see section 2.4.2 Problems Starting the MySQL Server.
  3. Use mysqladmin to verify that the server is running. The following commands provide a simple test to check that the server is up and responding to connections:
    shell> BINDIR/mysqladmin version
    shell> BINDIR/mysqladmin variables
    
    The output from mysqladmin version varies slightly depending on your platform and version of MySQL, but should be similar to that shown here:
    shell> BINDIR/mysqladmin version
    mysqladmin  Ver 8.14 Distrib 3.23.32, for linux on i586
    Copyright (C) 2000 MySQL AB & MySQL Finland AB & TCX DataKonsult AB
    This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software,
    and you are welcome to modify and redistribute it under the GPL license.
    
    Server version          3.23.32-debug
    Protocol version        10
    Connection              Localhost via Unix socket
    TCP port                3306
    UNIX socket             /tmp/mysql.sock
    Uptime:                 16 sec
    
    Threads: 1  Questions: 9  Slow queries: 0
    Opens: 7  Flush tables: 2  Open tables: 0
    Queries per second avg: 0.000
    Memory in use: 132K  Max memory used: 16773K
    
    To get a feeling for what else you can do with BINDIR/mysqladmin, invoke it with the --help option.
  4. Verify that you can shut down the server:
    shell> BINDIR/mysqladmin -u root shutdown
    
  5. Verify that you can restart the server. Do this using safe_mysqld or by invoking mysqld directly. For example:
    shell> BINDIR/safe_mysqld --log &
    
    If safe_mysqld fails, try running it from the MySQL installation directory (if you are not already there). If that doesn't work, see section 2.4.2 Problems Starting the MySQL Server.
  6. Run some simple tests to verify that the server is working. The output should be similar to what is shown here:
    shell> BINDIR/mysqlshow
    +-----------+
    | Databases |
    +-----------+
    | mysql     |
    +-----------+
    
    shell> BINDIR/mysqlshow mysql
    Database: mysql
    +--------------+
    |    Tables    |
    +--------------+
    | columns_priv |
    | db           |
    | func         |
    | host         |
    | tables_priv  |
    | user         |
    +--------------+
    
    shell> BINDIR/mysql -e "SELECT host,db,user FROM db" mysql
    +------+--------+------+
    | host | db     | user |
    +------+--------+------+
    | %    | test   |      |
    | %    | test_% |      |
    +------+--------+------+
    
    There is also a benchmark suite in the `sql-bench' directory (under the MySQL installation directory) that you can use to compare how MySQL performs on different platforms. The `sql-bench/Results' directory contains the results from many runs against different databases and platforms. To run all tests, execute these commands:
    shell> cd sql-bench
    shell> run-all-tests
    
    If you don't have the `sql-bench' directory, you are probably using an RPM for a binary distribution. (Source distribution RPMs include the benchmark directory.) In this case, you must first install the benchmark suite before you can use it. Beginning with MySQL Version 3.22, there are benchmark RPM files named `mysql-bench-VERSION-i386.rpm' that contain benchmark code and data. If you have a source distribution, you can also run the tests in the `tests' subdirectory. For example, to run `auto_increment.tst', do this:
    shell> BINDIR/mysql -vvf test < ./tests/auto_increment.tst
    
    The expected results are shown in the `./tests/auto_increment.res' file.

2.4.1 Problems Running mysql_install_db

The purpose of the mysql_install_db script is to generate new MySQL privilege tables. It will not affect any other data! It will also not do anything if you already have MySQL privilege tables installed!

If you want to re-create your privilege tables, you should take down the mysqld server, if it's running, and then do something like:

mv mysql-data-directory/mysql mysql-data-directory/mysql-old
mysql_install_db

This section lists problems you might encounter when you run mysql_install_db:

mysql_install_db doesn't install the grant tables
You may find that mysql_install_db fails to install the grant tables and terminates after displaying the following messages:
starting mysqld daemon with databases from XXXXXX
mysql daemon ended
In this case, you should examine the log file very carefully! The log should be located in the directory `XXXXXX' named by the error message, and should indicate why mysqld didn't start. If you don't understand what happened, include the log when you post a bug report using mysqlbug! See section 1.6.2.3 How to Report Bugs or Problems.
There is already a mysqld daemon running
In this case, you probably don't have to run mysql_install_db at all. You have to run mysql_install_db only once, when you install MySQL the first time.
Installing a second mysqld daemon doesn't work when one daemon is running
This can happen when you already have an existing MySQL installation, but want to put a new installation in a different place (for example, for testing, or perhaps you simply want to run two installations at the same time). Generally the problem that occurs when you try to run the second server is that it tries to use the same socket and port as the old one. In this case you will get the error message: Can't start server: Bind on TCP/IP port: Address already in use or Can't start server: Bind on unix socket.... See section 4.1.3 Installing Many Servers on the Same Machine.
You don't have write access to `/tmp'
If you don't have write access to create a socket file at the default place (in `/tmp') or permission to create temporary files in `/tmp,' you will get an error when running mysql_install_db or when starting or using mysqld. You can specify a different socket and temporary directory as follows:
shell> TMPDIR=/some_tmp_dir/
shell> MYSQL_UNIX_PORT=/some_tmp_dir/mysqld.sock
shell> export TMPDIR MYSQL_UNIX_PORT
See section A.4.5 How to Protect or Change the MySQL Socket File `/tmp/mysql.sock'. `some_tmp_dir' should be the path to some directory for which you have write permission. See section F Environment Variables. After this you should be able to run mysql_install_db and start the server with these commands:
shell> scripts/mysql_install_db
shell> BINDIR/safe_mysqld &
mysqld crashes immediately
If you are running RedHat Version 5.0 with a version of glibc older than 2.0.7-5, you should make sure you have installed all glibc patches! There is a lot of information about this in the MySQL mail archives. Links to the mail archives are available online at http://lists.mysql.com/. Also, see section 2.6.1 Linux Notes (All Linux Versions). You can also start mysqld manually using the --skip-grant-tables option and add the privilege information yourself using mysql:
shell> BINDIR/safe_mysqld --skip-grant-tables &
shell> BINDIR/mysql -u root mysql
From mysql, manually execute the SQL commands in mysql_install_db. Make sure you run mysqladmin flush-privileges or mysqladmin reload afterward to tell the server to reload the grant tables.

2.4.2 Problems Starting the MySQL Server

If you are going to use tables that support transactions (InnoDB, BDB), you should first create a `my.cnf' file and set startup options for the table types you plan to use. See section 7 MySQL Table Types.

Generally, you start the mysqld server in one of these ways:

When the mysqld daemon starts up, it changes the directory to the data directory. This is where it expects to write log files and the pid (process ID) file, and where it expects to find databases.

The data directory location is hardwired in when the distribution is compiled. However, if mysqld expects to find the data directory somewhere other than where it really is on your system, it will not work properly. If you have problems with incorrect paths, you can find out what options mysqld allows and what the default path settings are by invoking mysqld with the --help option. You can override the defaults by specifying the correct pathnames as command-line arguments to mysqld. (These options can be used with safe_mysqld as well.)

Normally you should need to tell mysqld only the base directory under which MySQL is installed. You can do this with the --basedir option. You can also use --help to check the effect of changing path options (note that --help must be the final option of the mysqld command). For example:

shell> EXECDIR/mysqld --basedir=/usr/local --help

Once you determine the path settings you want, start the server without the --help option.

Whichever method you use to start the server, if it fails to start up correctly, check the log file to see if you can find out why. Log files are located in the data directory (typically `/usr/local/mysql/data' for a binary distribution, `/usr/local/var' for a source distribution, and `\mysql\data\mysql.err' on Windows). Look in the data directory for files with names of the form `host_name.err' and `host_name.log' where host_name is the name of your server host. Then check the last few lines of these files:

shell> tail host_name.err
shell> tail host_name.log

Look for something like the following in the log file:

000729 14:50:10  bdb:  Recovery function for LSN 1 27595 failed
000729 14:50:10  bdb:  warning: ./test/t1.db: No such file or directory
000729 14:50:10  Can't init databases

This means that you didn't start mysqld with --bdb-no-recover and Berkeley DB found something wrong with its log files when it tried to recover your databases. To be able to continue, you should move away the old Berkeley DB log file from the database directory to some other place, where you can later examine it. The log files are named `log.0000000001', where the number will increase over time.

If you are running mysqld with BDB table support and mysqld core dumps at start this could be because of some problems with the BDB recover log. In this case you can try starting mysqld with --bdb-no-recover. If this helps, then you should remove all `log.*' files from the data directory and try starting mysqld again.

If you get the following error, it means that some other program (or another mysqld server) is already using the TCP/IP port or socket mysqld is trying to use:

Can't start server: Bind on TCP/IP port: Address already in use
  or
Can't start server : Bind on unix socket...

Use ps to make sure that you don't have another mysqld server running. If you can't find another server running, you can try to execute the command telnet your-host-name tcp-ip-port-number and press Enter a couple of times. If you don't get an error message like telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection refused, something is using the TCP/IP port mysqld is trying to use. See section 2.4.1 Problems Running mysql_install_db and section 4.1.4 Running Multiple MySQL Servers on the Same Machine.

If mysqld is currently running, you can find out what path settings it is using by executing this command:

shell> mysqladmin variables

or

shell> mysqladmin -h 'your-host-name' variables

If you get Errcode 13, which means Permission denied, when starting mysqld this means that you didn't have the right to read/create files in the MySQL database or log directory. In this case you should either start mysqld as the root user or change the permissions for the involved files and directories so that you have the right to use them.

If safe_mysqld starts the server but you can't connect to it, you should make sure you have an entry in `/etc/hosts' that looks like this:

127.0.0.1       localhost

This problem occurs only on systems that don't have a working thread library and for which MySQL must be configured to use MIT-pthreads.

If you can't get mysqld to start you can try to make a trace file to find the problem. See section E.1.2 Creating Trace Files.

If you are using InnoDB tables, refer to the InnoDB-specific startup options. See section 7.5.2 InnoDB Startup Options.

If you are using BDB (Berkeley DB) tables, you should familiarise yourself with the different BDB-specific startup options. See section 7.6.3 BDB startup options.

2.4.3 Starting and Stopping MySQL Automatically

The mysql.server and safe_mysqld scripts can be used to start the server automatically at system startup time. mysql.server can also be used to stop the server.

The mysql.server script can be used to start or stop the server by invoking it with start or stop arguments:

shell> mysql.server start
shell> mysql.server stop

mysql.server can be found in the `share/mysql' directory under the MySQL installation directory or in the `support-files' directory of the MySQL source tree.

Before mysql.server starts the server, it changes the directory to the MySQL installation directory, then invokes safe_mysqld. You might need to edit mysql.server if you have a binary distribution that you've installed in a non-standard location. Modify it to cd into the proper directory before it runs safe_mysqld. If you want the server to run as some specific user, add an appropriate user line to the `/etc/my.cnf' file, as shown later in this section.

mysql.server stop brings down the server by sending a signal to it. You can take down the server manually by executing mysqladmin shutdown.

You might want to add these start and stop commands to the appropriate places in your `/etc/rc*' files when you start using MySQL for production applications. Note that if you modify mysql.server, and then upgrade MySQL sometime, your modified version will be overwritten, so you should make a copy of your edited version that you can reinstall.

If your system uses `/etc/rc.local' to start external scripts, you should append the following to it:

/bin/sh -c 'cd /usr/local/mysql ; ./bin/safe_mysqld --user=mysql &'

You can also add options for mysql.server in a global `/etc/my.cnf' file. A typical `/etc/my.cnf' file might look like this:

[mysqld]
datadir=/usr/local/mysql/var
socket=/var/tmp/mysql.sock
port=3306
user=mysql

[mysql.server]
basedir=/usr/local/mysql

The mysql.server script understands the following options: datadir, basedir, and pid-file.

The following table shows which option groups each of the startup scripts read from option files:

Script Option groups
mysqld mysqld and server
mysql.server mysql.server, mysqld, and server
safe_mysqld mysql.server, mysqld, and server

See section 4.1.2 `my.cnf' Option Files.

2.5 Upgrading/Downgrading MySQL

You can always move the MySQL form and datafiles between different versions on the same architecture as long as you have the same base version of MySQL. The current base version is 3. If you change the character set when running MySQL (which may also change the sort order), you must run myisamchk -r -q on all tables. Otherwise, your indexes may not be ordered correctly.

If you are afraid of new versions, you can always rename your old mysqld to something like mysqld-old-version-number. If your new mysqld then does something unexpected, you can simply shut it down and restart with your old mysqld!

When you do an upgrade you should also back up your old databases, of course.

If after an upgrade, you experience problems with recompiled client programs, like Commands out of sync or unexpected core dumps, you probably have used an old header or library file when compiling your programs. In this case you should check the date for your `mysql.h' file and `libmysqlclient.a' library to verify that they are from the new MySQL distribution. If not, please recompile your programs!

If you get some problems that the new mysqld server doesn't want to start or that you can't connect without a password, check that you don't have some old `my.cnf' file from your old installation! You can check this with: program-name --print-defaults. If this outputs anything other than the program name, you have an active `my.cnf' file that will affect things!

It is a good idea to rebuild and reinstall the Msql-Mysql-modules distribution whenever you install a new release of MySQL, particularly if you notice symptoms such as all your DBI scripts dumping core after you upgrade MySQL.

2.5.1 Upgrading From Version 3.23 to Version 4.0

In general what you have to do when upgrading to 4.0 from an earlier MySQL version:

MySQL 4.0 will work even if you don't do the above, but you will not be able to use the new security privileges that MySQL 4.0 and you may run into problems when upgrading later to MySQL 4.1 or newer. The ISAM file format still works in MySQL 4.0 but it's deprecated and will be disabled in MySQL 5.0.

Old clients should work with a Version 4.0 server without any problems.

Even if you do the above, you can still downgrade to MySQL 3.23.52 or newer if you run into problems with the MySQL 4.0 series. In this case you have to do a mysqldump of any tables using a fulltext index and restore these in 3.23 (because 4.0 uses a new format for fulltext index).

The following is a more complete lists tell what you have to watch out for when upgrading to version 4.0;