Installing MySQL on Windows

By Michael J. Ross
2008-02-28


Installing MySQL

After the installation file has finished downloading, double-click it, which begins the MySQL Setup Wizard.

At the welcome dialog box, click the "Next" button.

The MySQL Setup Wizard allows you to choose the installation directory on your computer, and whether or not to have optional components installed. In the "Setup Type" dialog box, you can choose from three setup types: Typical, Complete, and Custom. Choose the first one if you would like MySQL to be installed in the default directory, "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0", and you also want all three client programs to be included (Command-Line Shell, Command Line Utilities, and Server Instance Config), but none of the C language 'include' or library files. For most users, this setup type should work fine. Choose a "Complete" setup to get all of the above, which probably would only be of interest to C programmers who want to examine MySQL's source code.

In this tutorial, we won't be using the default directory, and so we choose the "Custom" option, and specify an alternate installation directory, "C:\_a\MySQL". Some developers elect to install all of their applications in the default Windows directory, "C:\Program Files". But using a different directory has the advantage that it immediately distinguishes user-installed programs from those already installed by Windows or forcibly installed by any inconsiderate application that fails to allow one to specify its installation directory. The top-level directory name "_a" is short, saving space in the PATH environment variable, and its underscore pushes it to the top of any directory listing sorted alphabetically by filename, thus making it more visible.

After you have made all of your choices, click the "Next" button.

You are now ready to install MySQL's files. Click the "Install" button.

You may see some MySQL Enterprise advertisement dialog boxes.

Click through any ad boxes.

After the Setup Wizard has completed, you can and should configure your new server. Click the "Finish" button.

Tutorial Pages:
» Introduction
» MySQL Already Installed?
» Downloading MySQL
» Installing MySQL
» Configuring MySQL
» Verifying MySQL
» More Resources

Related Tutorials: » Implementing High Availability in MySQL » Stored Procedures are EVIL » MySQL Database Handling in PHP » A Flexible Method of Storing Control Data » Exploring MySQL CURDATE and NOW. The Same But Different. » Creating a PostgreSQL and MySQL driver