MySQL Configuration and Installation - Installing MySQL on UNIX from a Source Distribution

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If you’re planning to install MySQL from a source distribution, you’ll need to untar the source tree and go through the traditional configure-make-make install cycle to get MySQL up and running. This is a fairly time-consuming and complex process, and it’s one that shouldn’t really be attempted by novice users; however, if you’re determined to do it, here’s how:

1. Ensure that you’re logged in as root:

   [user@host]# su - root

2. Switch to the directory containing the source tarball, and
    extract the files within it. (Note that you will need
    approximately 80 MB of free space for the source tree.)

  [root@host]# cd /tmp
  [root@host]# tar -xzvf mysql-4.0.9-gamma.tar.gz

     Remember to replace the file name in italics with the file 
     name  of your source tarball.

3. Move into the directory containing the source code,

  [root@host]# cd mysql-4.0.9-gamma

    and take a look at the contents with ls:

  [root@host]# ls -l

You should see something like Figure 3-5.

Figure 3-5.  The directory structure obtained on unpackaging of a MySQL source tarball on Linux 

Figure 3-6.  Configuring the MySQL source tree on Linux

Take a look at the sidebar entitled “Up a Tree” for more information on what each directory contains.

4. Now, set variables for the compile process via the included 
  configure script. (Note the use of the --prefix argument to 
    configure, which sets the default installation path for the
    compiled binaries.)

  [root@host]# ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql

   You should see a few screens of output (Figure 3-6 has a
   sample) as configure configures and sets up the variables
   needed for the compilation process.

5. Now compile the program using make:

   [root@host]# make

    Watch as your screen fills up with all manner of strange
    symbols and characters  (see Figure 3-7).

   The compilation process takes a fair amount of time (refer to
   the sidebar titled “Watching the Clock” for my empirical
   observations on how long you’ll be waiting), so this is a good
   time to get yourself a cup of coffee or check your mail.

   Now that you’re all done, you can test to ensure that
   everything is working properly.

6. Run the following command:

    [root@host]# make tests

Handcrafting Your Build You can pass configure a number of command-line options that affect the build process. Here’s a list of the more interesting ones: • --prefix  Sets the prefix for              installation paths • --without-server Disables compilation of the              server, and compiles only the             MySQL client programs and libraries • --localstatedir  Sets the location in which             the MySQL databases will             be stored • --with-charset Sets a default character set • --with-debug Turns on extended debugging • --with-raid Enables RAID support • --with-embedded-server Builds the libmysqld             embedded server library • --without-query-cache Disables the query              cache • --without-debug Disables debugging routines • --with-openssl Includes OpenSSL support Use the configure --help command to get a complete list of options.

 
Figure 3-7.  Building MySQL on Linux

Watching the Clock Compiling MySQL is a fairly time-consuming process, and you should be prepared to spend anywhere between 15 to 60 minutes on the task. The following table contains some empirical observations on the time taken to compile the program on various hardware configurations: System Configuration Time Taken to Compile MySQL Pentium-II@350 MhZ, 64 MB RAM 45 minutes Pentium-III@700MhZ, 256 MB RAM 30 minutes AMD Athlon MP 1500+, SuSE Linux 7.3 8 minutes AMD Opteron@2x1.6 GHz, UnitedLinux 1.0 7 minutes Apple PowerMac G4@2x1.2 GHz, Mac OS X 10.2.4 14 minutes Compaq AlphaServer DS20@500 MHz, SuSe Linux 7.0 17 minutes HP 9000/800/A500-7X, HP-UX 11.11 14 minutes IBM RS/6000, AIX 4.3.3 35 minutes Intel Itanium2@900 MHz, Red Hat AS 2.1 14 minutes MIPS R5000@500 MHz, SGI IRIX 6.5 2 hours 30 minutes

7. Install the MySQL binaries to their new home 
     in /usr/local/mysql:

   [root@host]# make install

    Figure 3-8 demonstrates what your screen should look like
    during the installation process.

Figure 3-8.  Installing complied MySQL binaries on Linux

8. Create the special mysql user and group with the groupadd
     and useradd commands:

  [root@host]# groupadd mysql
  [root@host]# useradd -g mysql mysql

9. Run the initialization script, mysql_install_db, which ships
    with the program, to prepare MySQL for operation:

  [root@host]# /usr/local/mysql/scripts/mysql_install_db

10. Alter the ownership of the MySQL binaries so that they are
       owned by root:

   [root@host]# chown -R root /usr/local/mysql

      Now ensure that the newly minted mysql user has read/write
      access to the MySQL data directories:

   [root@host]# chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/var
   [root@host]# chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql

11. Start the MySQL server by manually running the mysqld
       daemon:

   [root@host]# /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe –-
   user=mysql &

      MySQL should start up normally, reading the base tables
      created in /usr/local/mysql/var.

At this point, you can proceed to the section titled “Testing MySQL” to verify that everything is working as it should.

Next: Installing and Configuring MySQL on Windows >>
 

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This article is taken from chapter three of the book My SQL The Complete Reference by Vikram Vaswani (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2003; ISBN 0072224770). Check it out at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.