Table of Contents for

MySQL in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Installing MySQL with a binary distribution is easier than using a source distribution and is the recommended choice if a binary distribution is available for your platform. The files are packaged together into an archive file and then compressed before being put on the Internet for downloading. Therefore, you will need a copy of GNU tar and GNU gunzip to be able to unpack the installation files. These tools are usually included on all Linux systems and most Unix systems. If your system doesn’t have them, though, you can download them from the GNU Project’s site (http://www.gnu.org).

Once you’ve chosen and downloaded the installation package, enter something like the following from the command line as root to begin the MySQL installation process:

groupadd mysql
useradd -g mysql mysql
cd /usr/local
tar xvfz /tmp/mysql-version.tar.gz

The first command creates the user group mysql. The second creates the user mysql and adds it to the group mysql at the same time. The next command changes to the directory where the MySQL files are about to be extracted. In the last command, you use the tar utility (along with gunzip via the z option) to unzip and unpack the source distribution file that you downloaded. The word version in the name of the installation file is replaced with the version number—that is to say, use the actual path and name of the installation file that you downloaded as the second argument of the tar command. For Sun Solaris systems, you should use gtar instead of tar.

After running the previous commands, you need to create a symbolic link to the directory created by tar in /usr/local:

ln -s /usr/local/mysql-version /usr/local/mysql

This creates /usr/local/mysql as a link to /usr/local/mysql-version, where mysql-version is the actual name of the subdirectory that tar created in /usr/local. The link is necessary because MySQL is expecting the software to be located in /usr/local/mysql and the data to be in /usr/local/mysql/data by default. It should be noted that for some versions of MySQL, a different directory is expected and used. So consult MySQL’s online documentation to be sure.

At this point, MySQL is basically installed. Now you must generate the initial privileges or grant tables, and change the file ownership of the MySQL programs and datafiles. To do these tasks, enter the following from the command line:

cd /usr/local/mysql
./scripts/mysql_install_db

chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql
chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql

The first command changes to the directory containing MySQL’s files. The second command uses a script provided with the distribution to generate the initial privileges or grant tables, which consist of the mysql database with MySQL’s root user. The third command changes the ownership of the MySQL directories and programs to the mysql user. The last command changes the group owner of the same directory and files to mysql.

With the programs installed and their ownerships properly set, you can start MySQL. This can be done in several ways. To make sure that the daemon is restarted in the event that it crashes, enter the following from the command line:

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe &

The mysqld_safe daemon, started by this command, will in turn start the MySQL server mysqld. If the mysqld daemon crashes, mysqld_safe will restart it. The ampersand at the end of the line instructs the shell to run the command in the background.

To have MySQL started at boot time, copy the mysql.server file located in the support-files subdirectory of /usr/local/mysql to the /etc/init.d directory. To do this, enter the following from the command line:

cp support-files/mysql.server /etc/init.d/mysql
chmod +x /etc/init.d/mysql
chkconfig --add mysql

The first line follows a convention of placing the startup file for the server in the server’s initial daemons directory with the name mysql. Set the file path according to your system, though. The second command makes the file executable. The third sets the run level of the service for startup and shutdown.

Now that MySQL is installed and running, you need to make some postinstallation adjustments that are explained in the last section of this chapter (Postinstallation”).