How to install MySQL on Windows

Note

MySQL 5.1

1. Download MySQL v5.1

   Download MySQL from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.1.html and get the Windows Essentials (x86) MSI Installer version. (after you click the download link, if it asks you to login scroll down a little and click the "No thanks, just take me to the downloads!" link under the login form)
   
   My file was named: mysql-essential-5.1.54-win32.msi

   NOTE about 64-bit

   MySQL is the only software in the main list (Apache, PHP, MySQL) that has a 64-bit Windows version. I did not test the 64-bit version of MySQL, but if you have a 64-bit Windows version, you should be fine if you want to download/install it. Otherwise use the 32-bit version (the 32-bit version will work on either type of machine).

2. Install MySQL v5.1

   Run the MSI file and use the following settings
   • Typical Setup
   • Skip Sign-Up
   • make sure "Configure the MySQL Server now" is checked
   • "Detailed Configuration"
   • "Developer Machine"
   • "Multifunctional Database"
   • "InnoDB Tablespace Settings" - leave everything default
   • "Decision Support (DSS)/OLAP"
   • make sure "Enable TCP/IP Networking" is checked and leave the port number at 3306 (at this point, if you have a firewall, it will usually try to access itself on the localhost)
     Leave "Enable Strict Mode" checked
   • "Standard Character Set"
   • check "Install As Windows Service" and I would recommend leaving "Launch the MySQL Server automatically" checked.
   • enter a root password (and remember/write it down) and I would recommend leaving "Enable root access from remote machines" unchecked
   • then hit "execute" and it'll install and set it up.

3. Getting PHP5 to work with MySQL - Official Info

   Then open up your php.ini in a text editor and search for ;extension=php_mysql.dll and remove the ; infont of that line.
   
   Restart Apache and see if you get any errors. If it complains about "php_mysql.dll" either your PHP extension directory isn't correct or windows can't find libmysql.dll

4. Testing MySQL

   Testing MySQL is not exactly easy. However, here are the common connection strings for PHP. I recommend downloading phpMyAdmin and using it to create and manage your databases, etc.
   
   PHP Connection test

   <?php
   // hostname or ip of server (for local testing, localhost should work)
   $dbServer='localhost';
   
   // username and password to log onto db server
   $dbUser='root';
   $dbPass='';
   
   // name of database
   $dbName='test';
   
       $link = mysql_connect("$dbServer", "$dbUser", "$dbPass") or die("Could not connect: ". mysql_error());
       print "Connected successfully<br>";
       mysql_select_db("$dbName") or die("Could not select database");
       print "Database selected successfully<br>";
   
   // close connection
   mysql_close($link);
   ?>