2.7 Installing MySQL on Linux from the Native Software Repositories

Many Linux distributions include a version of the MySQL server, client tools, and development components in their native software repositories and can be installed with the platforms' standard package management systems. This section provides basic instructions for installing MySQL using those package management systems.

Important

Native packages are often several versions behind the currently available release. You are also normally unable to install development milestone releases (DMRs), since these are not usually made available in the native repositories. Before proceeding, we recommend that you check out the other installation options described in Chapter 2, Installing MySQL on Linux.

Distribution specific instructions are shown below:

• Red Hat Linux, Fedora, CentOS

  Note

  For a number of Linux distributions, you can install MySQL using the MySQL Yum repository instead of the platform's native software repository. See Section 2.1, “Installing MySQL on Linux Using the MySQL Yum Repository” for details.

  For Red Hat and similar distributions, the MySQL distribution is divided into a number of separate packages, mysql for the client tools, mysql-server for the server and associated tools, and mysql-libs for the libraries. The libraries are required if you want to provide connectivity from different languages and environments such as Perl, Python and others.

  To install, use the yum command to specify the packages that you want to install. For example:

  #> yum install mysql mysql-server mysql-libs mysql-server
  Loaded plugins: presto, refresh-packagekit
  Setting up Install Process
  Resolving Dependencies
  --> Running transaction check
  ---> Package mysql.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13 set to be updated
  ---> Package mysql-libs.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13 set to be updated
  ---> Package mysql-server.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13 set to be updated
  --> Processing Dependency: perl-DBD-MySQL for package: mysql-server-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64
  --> Running transaction check
  ---> Package perl-DBD-MySQL.x86_64 0:4.017-1.fc13 set to be updated
  --> Finished Dependency Resolution
  Dependencies Resolved
  ================================================================================
   Package               Arch          Version               Repository      Size
  ================================================================================
  Installing:
   mysql                 x86_64        5.1.48-2.fc13         updates        889 k
   mysql-libs            x86_64        5.1.48-2.fc13         updates        1.2 M
   mysql-server          x86_64        5.1.48-2.fc13         updates        8.1 M
  Installing for dependencies:
   perl-DBD-MySQL        x86_64        4.017-1.fc13          updates        136 k
  Transaction Summary
  ================================================================================
  Install       4 Package(s)
  Upgrade       0 Package(s)
  Total download size: 10 M
  Installed size: 30 M
  Is this ok [y/N]: y
  Downloading Packages:
  Setting up and reading Presto delta metadata
  Processing delta metadata
  Package(s) data still to download: 10 M
  (1/4): mysql-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64.rpm                    | 889 kB     00:04
  (2/4): mysql-libs-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64.rpm               | 1.2 MB     00:06
  (3/4): mysql-server-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64.rpm             | 8.1 MB     00:40
  (4/4): perl-DBD-MySQL-4.017-1.fc13.x86_64.rpm            | 136 kB     00:00
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Total                                           201 kB/s |  10 MB     00:52
  Running rpm_check_debug
  Running Transaction Test
  Transaction Test Succeeded
  Running Transaction
    Installing     : mysql-libs-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64                          1/4
    Installing     : mysql-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64                               2/4
    Installing     : perl-DBD-MySQL-4.017-1.fc13.x86_64                       3/4
    Installing     : mysql-server-5.1.48-2.fc13.x86_64                        4/4
  Installed:
    mysql.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13            mysql-libs.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13
    mysql-server.x86_64 0:5.1.48-2.fc13
  Dependency Installed:
    perl-DBD-MySQL.x86_64 0:4.017-1.fc13
  Complete!

  MySQL and the MySQL server should now be installed. A sample configuration file is installed into /etc/my.cnf. To start the MySQL server use systemctl:

  $> systemctl start mysqld

  The database tables are automatically created for you, if they do not already exist. You should, however, run mysql_secure_installation to set the root passwords on your server.

• Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu

  Note

  For supported Debian and Ubuntu versions, MySQL can be installed using the MySQL APT Repository instead of the platform's native software repository. See Section 2.2, “Installing MySQL on Linux Using the MySQL APT Repository” for details.

  On Debian and related distributions, there are two packages for MySQL in their software repositories, mysql-client and mysql-server, for the client and server components respectively. You should specify an explicit version, for example mysql-client-5.1, to ensure that you install the version of MySQL that you want.

  To download and install, including any dependencies, use the apt-get command, specifying the packages that you want to install.

  Note

  Before installing, make sure that you update your apt-get index files to ensure you are downloading the latest available version.

  Note

  The apt-get command installs a number of packages, including the MySQL server, in order to provide the typical tools and application environment. This can mean that you install a large number of packages in addition to the main MySQL package.

  During installation, the initial database is created, and you are prompted for the MySQL root password (and confirmation). A configuration file is created in /etc/mysql/my.cnf. An init script is created in /etc/init.d/mysql.

  The server should already be started. You can manually start and stop the server using:

  #> service mysql [start|stop]

  The service is automatically added to the 2, 3 and 4 run levels, with stop scripts in the single, shutdown and restart levels.