For MySQL 5.7, there are multiple installation package formats to choose from when installing MySQL on Windows.
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-5.7.23.0.msi
ormysql-installer-commercial-5.7.23.0.msi
, and utilizes MSIs to automatically install MySQL server and other products. It will download and apply updates to itself, and for each of the installed products. It also configures the installed MySQL server (including InnoDB Cluster Sandbox test setups) and MySQL Router.MySQL Installer can install and manage (add, modify, upgrade, and remove) many other MySQL products, including:
Applications – MySQL Workbench, MySQL for Visual Studio, MySQL Notifier, MySQL for Excel, MySQL Utilities, MySQL Shell, MySQL Router
Connectors – MySQL Connector/C, 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
NoteAs of MySQL 5.7.8, MySQL Installer no longer includes debugging binaries/information components (including PDB files). These are available in a separate ZIP archive named
mysql-
for 64-bit andVERSION
-winx64-debug-test.zipmysql-
for 32-bit.VERSION
-win32-debug-test.zipMySQL Installer operates on all MySQL supported versions of Windows (see http://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/database.html).
NoteBecause MySQL Installer is not a native component of Microsoft Windows and depends on .NET, it will not work on minimal installation options like the "Server Core" version of Windows Server 2008.
For instructions on installing MySQL using MySQL Installer, see Section 1.3, “MySQL Installer for Windows”.
The
noinstall
ZIP Archives: These packages contain the files found in the complete installation package, with the exception of the GUI. This format does not include an automated installer, and must be manually installed and configured.NoteAs of MySQL 5.7.6,
noinstall
ZIP archives are split into two separate compressed files. The main package is namedmysql-
for 64-bit andVERSION
-winx64.zipmysql-
for 32-bit. 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 namedVERSION
-win32.zipmysql-
for 64-bit andVERSION
-winx64-debug-test.zipmysql-
for 32-bit.VERSION
-win32-debug-test.zipBefore MySQL 5.7.6, a single
noinstall
ZIP archive contained both the main and debugging files.
MySQL Installer is recommended for most users.
Your choice of install package affects the installation process
you must follow. If you choose to use MySQL Installer, see
Section 1.3, “MySQL Installer for Windows”. If you choose to install a
noinstall
ZIP archive, see
Section 1.5, “Installing MySQL on Microsoft Windows Using a
noinstall
ZIP Archive”.