2 Installation

I

NSTALLATION

CocoaMySQL

If you are using Mac OS X, I strongly recommend the CocoaMySQL application. It is a

fairly simple and reliable means of connecting to a MySQL database without having to use

the command line. We'll do a little bit of command line work in this tutorial in case you

need to import or work with data from behind a firewall, but only a little. If at all possible, I

recommend  using  CocoaMySQL  or  a  program  similar  to  it,  to  manage  your  MySQL

databases.

Download CocoaMySQL from http://cocoamysql.sourceforge.net/. CocoaMySQL requires

Mac OS X 10.2 or higher. There is also another version of the software, Cocoa MySQL 

SBG, at http://theonline.org/cocoamysql/. This version probably requires Mac OS X 10.3

and MySQL 4.x, but it also offers a few extra features.

The Command Line

If you are not using CocoaMySQL, you'll need to use some other interface to MySQL, or

use the command line  mysql  application that comes with MySQL. With the Mac OS X

installation, the mysql install is in /usr/local/mysql. You'll use the mysql command line by

going to the terminal (in your Utilities folder) and typing:

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql  h localhost  u 

USERNAME

  p

Replace   username   with  the  username  you  created  or  were  given  by  your  database

administrator.

The big difference between the statements in this tutorial and what you'll type is that you

need to always end your statements with semicolons.

MySQL

We'll be installing the full MySQL server on your desktop computer. This portion of the

tutorial is geared pretty much exclusively to the Macintosh. Installation of MySQL on Mac

OS X is quick and easy.

If you are using Linux, you may well have MySQL already installed on your system. Look at

your instructions or manual (depending on your installation) to see how to enable it or access

it.

Download package

MySQL  is  free  software.  You  can  download  it  at  http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/.  As  I

write this, the current recommended version is MySQL 4.1. Click on that. If you are going

to  install  the  Mac  OS  X  version,  scroll  down  to  the  Mac  OS  X  downloads  section,  and

download the Standard  Installer package  for your version of Mac OS X. For now, you do

not want either of the Max or Debug versions.