Installing the database server

Install MySQL (the database server) first. Double click on the ``Setup'' icon with the installer icon to start this process. Refer to figure 1 for a screen-shot.

Figure 1: Install MySQL, double-click the Setup icon.

Follow the prompt and accept defaults settings. At the end of this process, you should see the screen in figure 2.

Figure 2: End of the installation of MySQL.

At this point, you don't really know whether it works or not. You can use a command line prompt (otherwise known as a DOS box) to test the installation. Click the Start button, then select ``run'', type command in the dialog box and click Okay.

In the DOS box, issue the following commands:

c:
cd \mysql\bin
mysqld --console

This should start the MySQL server the first time. It'll initialize many files, and end with a screen similar to figure 3.

Figure 3: Screen after running mysqld the first time.

At this point, the database server is already running! Don't stop it, it is normal that the DOS box appears to have ``hung up''.