Chapter 1 MySQL Installer for Windows

MySQL Installer is a standalone application designed to ease the complexity of installing and configuring MySQL products that run on Microsoft Windows. It supports the following MySQL products:

MySQL Installer can install and manage multiple, separate MySQL server instances on the same host at the same time. For example, MySQL Installer can install, configure, and upgrade a separate instance of MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0 on the same host. MySQL Installer does not permit server upgrades between major and minor version numbers, but does permit upgrades within a release series (such as 8.0.21 to 8.0.22).

MySQL Installer cannot install both Community and Commercial releases of MySQL server on the same host. If you require both releases on the same host, consider using the ZIP archive distribution to install one of the releases.

MySQL Workbench, MySQL Shell, MySQL Router, and MySQL for Visual Studio.

MySQL Connector/NET, MySQL Connector/Python, MySQL Connector/ODBC, MySQL Connector/J, and MySQL Connector/C++. To install MySQL Connector/Node.js, see https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/nodejs/.

Documentation and Samples

MySQL Reference Manuals (by version) in PDF format and MySQL database samples (by version).

Installation Requirements

MySQL Installer requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later. If this version is not installed on the host computer, you can download it by visiting the Microsoft website.

An internet connection is required to download a manifest containing metadata for the latest MySQL products that are not part of a full bundle. MySQL Installer attempts to download the manifest when you start the application for the first time and then periodically in configurable intervals (see MySQL Installer options). Alternatively, you can retrieve an updated manifest manually by clicking Catalog in the MySQL Installer dashboard.

If the first-time or subsequent manifest download is unsuccessful, an error is logged and you may have limited access to MySQL products during your session. MySQL Installer attempts to download the manifest with each startup until the initial manifest structure is updated. For help finding a product, see Locating Products to Install.

MySQL Installer Community Release

Download software from https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/ to install the Community release of all MySQL products for Windows. Select one of the following MySQL Installer package options:

Web : Contains MySQL Installer and configuration files only. The web package option downloads only the MySQL products you select to install, but it requires an internet connection for each download. The size of this file is approximately 2 MB. The file name has the form mysql-installer-community- web — VERSION . N .msi in which VERSION is the MySQL server version number such as 8.0 and N is the package number, which begins at 0.

Full or Current Bundle : Bundles all of the MySQL products for Windows (including the MySQL server). The file size is over 300 MB, and the name has the form mysql-installer-community- VERSION . N .msi in which VERSION is the MySQL Server version number such as 8.0 and N is the package number, which begins at 0.

MySQL Installer Commercial Release

Download software from https://edelivery.oracle.com/ to install the Commercial release (Standard or Enterprise Edition) of MySQL products for Windows. If you are logged in to your My Oracle Support (MOS) account, the Commercial release includes all of the current and previous GA versions available in the Community release, but it excludes development-milestone versions. When you are not logged in, you see only the list of bundled products that you downloaded already.

The Commercial release also includes the following products:

MySQL Enterprise Backup

MySQL Enterprise Firewall

The Commercial release integrates with your MOS account. For knowledge-base content and patches, see My Oracle Support.

Mysql windows installer package

For MySQL 8.0, there are multiple installation package formats to choose from when installing MySQL on Windows. The package formats described in this section are:

Program Database (PDB) files (with file name extension pdb ) provide information for debugging your MySQL installation in the event of a problem. These files are included in ZIP Archive distributions (but not MSI distributions) of MySQL.

MySQL Installer

This package has a file name similar to mysql-installer-community-8.0.25.0.msi or mysql-installer-commercial-8.0.25.0.msi , and utilizes MSIs to install MySQL server and other products automatically. MySQL Installer downloads and applies updates to itself, and to each of the installed products. It also configures the installed MySQL server (including a sandbox InnoDB cluster test setup) and MySQL Router. MySQL Installer is recommended for most users.

MySQL Installer can install and manage (add, modify, upgrade, and remove) many other MySQL products, including:

Applications – MySQL Workbench, MySQL for Visual Studio, MySQL Shell, and MySQL Router (see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-compat-matrix/en/)

Connectors – MySQL Connector/C++, MySQL Connector/NET, Connector/ODBC, MySQL Connector/Python, MySQL Connector/J, MySQL Connector/Node.js

Documentation – MySQL Manual (PDF format), samples and examples

MySQL Installer operates on all MySQL supported versions of Windows (see https://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/database.html).

Because MySQL Installer is not a native component of Microsoft Windows and depends on .NET, it does not work with minimal installation options like the Server Core version of Windows Server.

For instructions on how to install MySQL using MySQL Installer, see Section 2.3.3, “MySQL Installer for Windows”.

MySQL noinstall ZIP Archives

These packages contain the files found in the complete MySQL Server installation package, with the exception of the GUI. This format does not include an automated installer, and must be manually installed and configured.

The noinstall ZIP archives are split into two separate compressed files. The main package is named mysql- VERSION -winx64.zip . This contains the components needed to use MySQL on your system. The optional MySQL test suite, MySQL benchmark suite, and debugging binaries/information components (including PDB files) are in a separate compressed file named mysql- VERSION -winx64-debug-test.zip .

MySQL Docker Images

For information on using the MySQL Docker images provided by Oracle on Windows platform, see Section 2.5.6.3, “Deploying MySQL on Windows and Other Non-Linux Platforms with Docker”.

The MySQL Docker images provided by Oracle are built specifically for Linux platforms. Other platforms are not supported, and users running the MySQL Docker images from Oracle on them are doing so at their own risk.

Mysql windows installer package

MySQL Installer is a standalone application designed to ease the complexity of installing and configuring MySQL products that run on Microsoft Windows. It supports the following MySQL products:

MySQL Installer can install and manage multiple, separate MySQL server instances on the same host at the same time. For example, MySQL Installer can install, configure, and upgrade a separate instance of MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0 on the same host. MySQL Installer does not permit server upgrades between major and minor version numbers, but does permit upgrades within a release series (such as 8.0.21 to 8.0.22).

MySQL Installer cannot install both Community and Commercial releases of MySQL server on the same host. If you require both releases on the same host, consider using the ZIP archive distribution to install one of the releases.

MySQL Workbench, MySQL Shell, MySQL Router, and MySQL for Visual Studio.

MySQL Connector/NET, MySQL Connector/Python, MySQL Connector/ODBC, MySQL Connector/J, and MySQL Connector/C++. To install MySQL Connector/Node.js, see https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/nodejs/.

Documentation and Samples

MySQL Reference Manuals (by version) in PDF format and MySQL database samples (by version).

Installation Requirements

MySQL Installer requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later. If this version is not installed on the host computer, you can download it by visiting the Microsoft website.

An internet connection is required to download a manifest containing metadata for the latest MySQL products that are not part of a full bundle. MySQL Installer attempts to download the manifest when you start the application for the first time and then periodically in configurable intervals (see MySQL Installer options). Alternatively, you can retrieve an updated manifest manually by clicking Catalog in the MySQL Installer dashboard.

If the first-time or subsequent manifest download is unsuccessful, an error is logged and you may have limited access to MySQL products during your session. MySQL Installer attempts to download the manifest with each startup until the initial manifest structure is updated. For help finding a product, see Locating Products to Install.

MySQL Installer Community Release

Download software from https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/ to install the Community release of all MySQL products for Windows. Select one of the following MySQL Installer package options:

Web : Contains MySQL Installer and configuration files only. The web package option downloads only the MySQL products you select to install, but it requires an internet connection for each download. The size of this file is approximately 2 MB. The file name has the form mysql-installer-community- web — VERSION . N .msi in which VERSION is the MySQL server version number such as 8.0 and N is the package number, which begins at 0.

Full or Current Bundle : Bundles all of the MySQL products for Windows (including the MySQL server). The file size is over 300 MB, and the name has the form mysql-installer-community- VERSION . N .msi in which VERSION is the MySQL Server version number such as 8.0 and N is the package number, which begins at 0.

MySQL Installer Commercial Release

Download software from https://edelivery.oracle.com/ to install the Commercial release (Standard or Enterprise Edition) of MySQL products for Windows. If you are logged in to your My Oracle Support (MOS) account, the Commercial release includes all of the current and previous GA versions available in the Community release, but it excludes development-milestone versions. When you are not logged in, you see only the list of bundled products that you downloaded already.

The Commercial release also includes the following products:

MySQL Enterprise Backup

MySQL Enterprise Firewall

The Commercial release integrates with your MOS account. For knowledge-base content and patches, see My Oracle Support.

Mysql windows installer package

MySQL 8.0 Server requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Package to run on Windows platforms. Users should make sure the package has been installed on the system before installing the server. The package is available at the Microsoft Download Center. Additionally, MySQL debug binaries require Visual Studio 2015 to be installed.

MySQL is available for Microsoft Windows 64-bit operating systems only. For supported Windows platform information, see https://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/database.html.

There are different methods to install MySQL on Microsoft Windows.

MySQL Installer Method

The simplest and recommended method is to download MySQL Installer (for Windows) and let it install and configure a specific version of MySQL Server as follows:

Download MySQL Installer from https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/ and execute it.

Unlike the standard MySQL Installer, the smaller web-community version does not bundle any MySQL applications, but downloads only the MySQL products you choose to install.

Determine the setup type to use for the initial installation of MySQL products. For example:

Developer Default : Provides a setup type that includes the selected version of MySQL Server and other MySQL tools related to MySQL development, such as MySQL Workbench.

Server Only : Provides a setup for the selected version of MySQL Server without other products.

Custom : Enables you to select any version of MySQL Server and other MySQL products.

Install the server instance (and products) and then begin the server configuration by following the onscreen instructions. For more information about each individual step, see Section 2.3.3.3.1, “MySQL Server Configuration with MySQL Installer”.

MySQL is now installed. If you configured MySQL as a service, then Windows automatically starts the MySQL server every time you restart the system. Also, this process installs the MySQL Installer application on the local host, which you can use later to upgrade or reconfigure MySQL server.

If you installed MySQL Workbench on your system, consider using it to check your new MySQL server connection. By default, the program automatically start after installing MySQL.

Additional Installation Information

It is possible to run MySQL as a standard application or as a Windows service. By using a service, you can monitor and control the operation of the server through the standard Windows service management tools. For more information, see Section 2.3.4.8, “Starting MySQL as a Windows Service”.

To accommodate the RESTART statement, the MySQL server forks when run as a service or standalone, to enable a monitor process to supervise the server process. In this case, there are two mysqld processes. If RESTART capability is not required, the server can be started with the —no-monitor option. See Section 13.7.8.8, “RESTART Statement”.

Generally, you should install MySQL on Windows using an account that has administrator rights. Otherwise, you may encounter problems with certain operations such as editing the PATH environment variable or accessing the Service Control Manager . When installed, MySQL does not need to be executed using a user with Administrator privileges.

For a list of limitations on the use of MySQL on the Windows platform, see Section 2.3.7, “Windows Platform Restrictions”.

In addition to the MySQL Server package, you may need or want additional components to use MySQL with your application or development environment. These include, but are not limited to:

To connect to the MySQL server using ODBC, you must have a Connector/ODBC driver. For more information, including installation and configuration instructions, see MySQL Connector/ODBC Developer Guide.

MySQL Installer installs and configures Connector/ODBC for you.

To use MySQL server with .NET applications, you must have the Connector/NET driver. For more information, including installation and configuration instructions, see MySQL Connector/NET Developer Guide.

MySQL Installer installs and configures MySQL Connector/NET for you.

MySQL for Windows is available in several distribution formats, detailed here. Generally speaking, you should use MySQL Installer. It contains more features and MySQL products than the older MSI, is simpler to use than the compressed file, and you need no additional tools to get MySQL up and running. MySQL Installer automatically installs MySQL Server and additional MySQL products, creates an options file, starts the server, and enables you to create default user accounts. For more information on choosing a package, see Section 2.3.2, “Choosing an Installation Package”.

A MySQL Installer distribution includes MySQL Server and additional MySQL products including MySQL Workbench, and MySQL for Visual Studio. MySQL Installer can also be used to upgrade these products in the future (see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-compat-matrix/en/).

For instructions on installing MySQL using MySQL Installer, see Section 2.3.3, “MySQL Installer for Windows”.

The standard binary distribution (packaged as a compressed file) contains all of the necessary files that you unpack into your chosen location. This package contains all of the files in the full Windows MSI Installer package, but does not include an installation program.

The source distribution format contains all the code and support files for building the executables using the Visual Studio compiler system.

For instructions on building MySQL from source on Windows, see Section 2.9, “Installing MySQL from Source”.

MySQL on Windows Considerations

Large Table Support

If you need tables with a size larger than 4GB, install MySQL on an NTFS or newer file system. Do not forget to use MAX_ROWS and AVG_ROW_LENGTH when you create tables. See Section 13.1.20, “CREATE TABLE Statement”.

MySQL and Virus Checking Software

Virus-scanning software such as Norton/Symantec Anti-Virus on directories containing MySQL data and temporary tables can cause issues, both in terms of the performance of MySQL and the virus-scanning software misidentifying the contents of the files as containing spam. This is due to the fingerprinting mechanism used by the virus-scanning software, and the way in which MySQL rapidly updates different files, which may be identified as a potential security risk.

After installing MySQL Server, it is recommended that you disable virus scanning on the main directory ( datadir ) used to store your MySQL table data. There is usually a system built into the virus-scanning software to enable specific directories to be ignored.