MySQL is available in binary form for almost all versions of UNIX and can even be compiled for those UNIX variants for which no binary distribution exists. This section will discuss installing and configuring MySQL on Linux using both source and binary distributions; the process for other UNIX variants is similar, although you should refer to the documentation included with the MySQL distribution for platform-specific notes.

Installing MySQL from a Binary RPM Distribution

The recommended way to install MySQL on a Linux system is via RPM. MySQL AB makes the following RPMs available for download on its web site:

• MySQL The MySQL database server, which manages databases and tables, controls user access, and processes SQL queries

• MySQL-client MySQL client programs, which makes it possible to connect to, and interact with, the server
  
  

  Needful Things MySQL software distributions are usually packaged in Zip, tar (tape archive), or RPM (RPM Package Manager) format, and they can range from 7 to 20 MB in size in compressed form, and up to 100 MB in size in uncompressed form. Depending on the format you select, you will need appropriate unpackaging tools to extract the files from the source archive. For Zip and tar files, you will need GNU tar and GNU gunzip, available from http://www.gnu.org. For RPM files, you will need rpm, available from http://www.rpm.org. Additionally, if youre planning on compiling and installing MySQL from a source distribution, you will need a C++ compiler like gcc on UNIX or Visual C++ on Windows. The gcc compiler is available from http://www.gnu.org/software/ gcc, while Visual C++ is available from http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc.

• MySQL-devel Libraries and header files that come in handy when compiling other programs that use MySQL

• MySQL-shared Shared libraries for the MySQL client

• MySQL-bench Benchmark and performance testing tools for the MySQL database server

The MySQL RPMs listed here are all built on a SuSE Linux system, but they’ll usually work on other Linux variants with no difficulty.

Installing an RPM distribution of MySQL is extremely simple, and it involves running only a single command—the rpm command—for each RPM you wish to install. Here’s how you go about doing it:

1. First ensure that you’re logged in as root:

   [user@host] # su – root

2. Switch to the directory containing the RPMs: 

    [root@host] # cd /tmp

3. Install the MySQL database server by executing the following 
    command (remember to replace the filename in italics with 
    the  file name of your RPM):

   [root@host] # rpm -i MySQL-4.0.9-0.i386.rpm

RPM does the following things to get MySQL up and running on your system:

• Copies the MySQL binaries to appropriate locations on your system (usually, binaries go to /usr/bin and /usr/sbin, while databases and tables are stored in /var/lib/mysql)

• Adds a mysql user/group to the system to handle all MySQL-related operational and administrative tasks

• Alters ownership of the MySQL binaries so that they are owned by the mysql user/group

• Creates and initializes the MySQL grant tables

• Adds appropriate entries to your system’s startup scripts so that the MySQL server starts up automatically at boot time

• Starts the server so that you can begin using it immediately Figure 3-1 shows a snippet of what you might see during the installation process:

4. Now install the remaining RPMs in a similar manner:

Figure 3-2 displays what you should see while performing this task. 

 
Figure 3-1.  Installation of the MySQL server via RPM

Note that it’s necessary to install only the server; however, I would recommend that you install the client as well so that you can interact with the server from the system console. The benchmark utilities should be installed only if you plan to test MySQL performance, while the libraries and header files come in handy when you’re compiling other utilities or tools that use MySQL (for example, the PHP scripting language).

Once installation has been successfully completed, you should move later in the chapter to the section titled “Testing MySQL” to verify that everything is working as it should.

Figure 3-2.  Installation of ancillary MySQL tools and utilities via RPM