MySQL 5.6 Reference Manual
MySQL 5.6 Release Notes
For MySQL 5.6 on Windows, the default installation
directory is C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server
5.6 for installations performed with MySQL Installer.
If you use the ZIP archive method to install MySQL, you may prefer
to install in C:\mysql. However, the layout
of the subdirectories remains similar (exceptions are indicated).
All of the files are located within this parent directory, using the structure shown in the following table.
Table 5.1 Default MySQL Installation Layout for Microsoft Windows
| Directory | Contents of Directory | Notes |
|---|---|---|
bin, scripts |
mysqld server, client and utility programs | |
%PROGRAMDATA%\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\ |
Log files, databases | The Windows system variable %PROGRAMDATA% defaults to
C:\ProgramData. |
data |
Pristine templates | |
docs |
Release documentation | With MySQL Installer, use the Modify operation to select this
optional folder. |
include |
Include (header) files | |
lib |
Libraries | |
share |
Miscellaneous support files, including error messages, character set files, sample configuration files, SQL for database installation | |
mysql-test, scripts, and
sql-bench |
Debug binaries and test suite | ZIP archive only. |
The packages create and set up the data directory that the
installed server uses and creates a pristine
“template” data directory named
data under the installation directory. After
an installation has been performed using this package, the
template data directory can be copied to set up additional MySQL
instances. See Running Multiple MySQL Instances on One Machine.