MySQL Server is owned by the for-profit corporation MySQL AB, but it is still the most widely used open source database management system. Recently, MySQL AB decided to split their open source product into two versions, Community and Enterprise. Enterprise is a commercial version of the same product, and comes with the kind of commercial level support you would expect from a product you purchase. Community is the free version, which comes with no support from MySQL AB whatsoever, but that is usually not a big hurdle considering the vast online community of MySQL users online and the sheer number of websites and documents on the subject. However, the one drawback to the Community version is that it is not the latest version of the product -- MySQL AB appears to be withholding the latest version as an incentive to purchase their Enterprise product.



MySQL Community Server (the free version) can be downloaded from http://www.mysql.org/downloads/mysql/5.0.html. Installing MySQL is quite simple, as the binary of the Community version comes with a setup wizard installer. Once you have downloaded the product, unzip it if necessary and run the setup program. In most cases, you won't need to change the default installation options, so choose the "Typical" configuration and then follow the prompts. When it asks you to login/signup to MySQL.com, you can skip the sign-up process as it is not necessary to run the database server.

It should take a few minutes to install. At the end of the installation, it will ask you if you wish to configure the database server immediately, which you do. The first configuration setting it will ask you about is whether to use the standard configuration or a detailed configuration. In most cases, you can go with the simple configuration, but you may need to use the detailed configuration if you are installing the database server on a machine that already has MySQL server installed (i.e., a new instance of it), or if you have special configuration needs for the database server. The configuration will also ask you if you wish to install the database as a Windows service, and if you wish to include the Bin directory in the Windows PATH environment variable. If you do not install MySQL Server as a windows service, then you will have to run the application manually each time the server is rebooted, so it is recommended to install it as a windows service. The BIN environment variable change is unnecessary, but can be handy later if you need to manipulate a database from the command line, so it is recommended that you go ahead and set that option in the configuration.

You will also be asked about security settings -- what root password to use, and whether or not you wish to install an anonymous account on the database server as well. It is recommended to not install an anonymous account unless you have a specific reason to do so, and you should most definitely choose a root password for the database server carefully (do not leave it blank!!). You can also enable remote root access from this configuration screen, but it is not recommended unless you have a reason to do so.

Once all this is complete, the configuration settings will be applied and the MySQL Server service will be started. You are now ready to install your first database, but you may wish to learn a little about MySQL Server first to familiarize yourself with it. A couple tutorials on how to get started with MySQL are available at http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/mysql_intro.html and http://www.tizag.com/mysqlTutorial/. Once you get deeper into MySQL server, you will be referring often to the official MySQL Reference, which can be found at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/ .

MySQL is the most widely used database management system because it is free, but what databases you create or install are up to you. Once you have your website empire running full steam, you will undoubtedly be creating your own databases and growing them with the aid of your users. To get started, however, there are many resources online where you can obtain or purchase databases upon which to build your websites, such as www.WebContents.org . The next article I write will be about how to install these kinds of MySQL databases, so look for it!