Installing MySQL on Windows from a Source Distribution - MySQL

While compiling MySQL for Windows from the source archive is not something that’s generally recommended—it’s far safer, not to mention easier, to use the provided binaries—it’s certainly doable, assuming you have a copy of the Visual C++ 6.0 compiler (with Service Pack 5 and the preprocessor package). Here’s how it’s done:

1. Unzip the source archive to a working directory on your system.

2. Launch the Visual C++ compiler, and open the mysql.dsw workspace from the working directory. You should see a window like Figure 3-19.

Figure 3-18.  Using the WinMySQLLadmin system tray icon 

 
Figure 3-19.  The MySQL workspace in Visual C++

  3.  Choose Build | Set Active Configuration to obtain a list 
        of available configurations. Select mysqld – Win32 Release 
        (see  Figure 3-20). Click OK.

  4.  Begin compiling by pressing the F7 key. The various MySQL
        binaries will be compiled—expect the process to take from
        20 minutes to an hour, depending

 
Figure 3-20.  Selecting which version of MySQL to build in visual C++
 

 
Figure 3-21.  Compiling MySQL for Windows in Visual C++

on the capabilities of your machine. During the compilation process, the Visual C++ compiler window will display a series of messages, such as those shown in Figure 3-21.

    5.  After compilation is complete, create a separate 
         installation directory to house the compiled binaries—for
         example, c:\program files\mysql.

    6.  Create a bin\ subdirectory under this directory, and move 
          the compiled libraries and executables into this directory. 
         While you’re at it, also move the data\, share\, docs\, 
         and support-files\ directories from the working directory
         into this directory.

    7.  You should now be able to start the MySQL server by diving
         into the bin\ subdirectory of your MySQL installation and
         launching the MySQL server daemon directly (mysqld.exe 
         or mysqld-nt.exe).

Once the server has started, proceed to test it as per the instructions in “Testing MySQL,” next.