Install MySQL Server and Connector/J

Downloading the MySQL Database Server

The download page

The main download page for both the database server and the connector as of September 2004 is http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. Hopefully, this URL will also remain intact as MySQL releases later versions of the software.

Several different versions of the database server are available for downloading as of September 2004, including:

• MySQL 4.0 -- Generally Available (GA) release (recommended)
• MySQL 4.1 -- Gamma release (use this for new development)
• MySQL 5.0 -- Alpha release (use this for previewing and testing new features)
• MySQL 5.0.1 -- Snapshot release (use this for previewing and testing new features)
• Older releases -- older releases (only recommended for special needs)
• Snapshots -- source code snapshots of the development trees

This list can be expected to change over time as new versions of the database server are released. Thus, the links in the above list will become obsolete. When that happens, you should revert back to the download page at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ and download the version that best suits your needs at that time.

The different versions of the database server

As of September 2004, the database server documentation has this to say about these different versions:

• MySQL 5.0 is the newest development release series and is under very active development for new features. Alpha releases have been issued to allow more widespread testing.
• MySQL 4.1 is in gamma status, soon moving to production status.
• MySQL 4.0 is the current stable (production-quality) release series. New releases are issued for bugfixes. No new features are added that could diminish the code stability.
• MySQL 3.23 is the old stable (production-quality) release series. This series is retired, so new releases are issued only to fix critical bugs.

I elected MySQL 4.0

I elected to download MySQL 4.0 since it is the stable production quality version as of September 2004. This resulted in the downloading of a distribution file named mysql-4.0.21-win.zip.

(The distribution file name is likely to be different for future versions of the MySQL database server.)

Installing MySQL Database Server

Installation instructions

Installation instructions for the database server are provided in the database server documentation, Section 2, entitled Installing MySQL.

Since I was installing on Windows XP and had no desire to deal with source code, I quickly skipped down to Section 2.2.1.2 entitled Installing a Windows Binary Distribution.

In my case, installation was easy

Because I did not have an earlier version of MySQL installed and I was logged onto Windows as an administrator, all that I needed to do was to execute the following instructions from the database server documentation to install the MySQL database server on my computer.

• Unzip the distribution file to a temporary directory.
• Run the setup.exe program to begin the installation process. If you want to install MySQL into a location other than the default directory (`C:\mysql'), use the Browse button to specify your preferred directory. If you do not install MySQL into the default location, you will need to specify the location whenever you start the server. The easiest way to do this is to use an option file, as described in Section 2.2.1.3 Preparing the Windows MySQL Environment.

Because I didn't want to deal with option files, I elected to allow the software to be installed in the default directory, C:\mysql.

Testing the installation

After completing the installation, I performed some of the procedures shown in the database server documentation, Section 2.4.1 entitled Windows Post-Installation Procedures. Although I didn't get exactly the same results as those shown in the documentation, my results were close enough to convince me that the MySQL database server was correctly installed on my computer.

(The reason that I didn't get exactly the same results was that I didn't log in with administrator privileges.)

Not installed as a Windows service

Section 2.2.1.7 of the database server documentation entitled Starting MySQL as a Windows Service contains the following:

"On the NT family (Windows NT, 2000, or XP), the recommended way to run MySQL is to install it as a Windows service. Then Windows starts and stops the MySQL server automatically when Windows starts and stops."

I have no desire for the MySQL database server to start running every time I start Windows running. I already waste enough time waiting for Windows XP to become ready for use on my laptop each time I start it.

Therefore, I did not install the database server as a service. I will explain how I manually start and stop the database server whenever I need to use it later in this lesson.

Downloading MySQL Connector/J

What is MySQL Connector/J?

For those who don't know, let me begin by explaining the purpose of MySQL Connector/J.

The JDBC API is designed to make it possible for you to write a single Java program and to use it to manipulate the data in a variety of different SQL database servers without a requirement to modify and/or recompile the program. In order to do this, it is necessary for you to:

• Inform the Java program as to the URL of the database server. You can accomplish this with input data when you start the program.
• Provide the Java program with a programming interface to the specific database server that you intend to use. Assuming that the programming interface has been installed on your computer, you can also accomplish this with input data when you run the program.

The programming interface

The programming interface deals with the interface peculiarities of the different database servers.

Sun refers to the process of providing this information to the program as registering the database server with the Java program. You will see how this is done in the sample programs later in this lesson.

The connector download page

The download page for MySQL Connector/J is http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/index.html. As of September 2004, the following versions are available for downloading from this page:

• MySQL Connector/J 3.1 -- development release
• MySQL Connector/J 3.0 -- production release
• Older releases -- older releases (only recommended for special needs)
• Snapshots -- source code snapshots of the development trees

As with the MySQL database server software, these individual links are likely to become obsolete as new versions of the software are released. Hopefully the link to http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/index.html will remain intact.

The MySQL Connector/J 3.0 distribution file

Because I was very interested in stability, I elected to download and install MySQL Connector/J 3.0, identified above as the production release. This resulted in the download of a file named mysql-connector-java-3.0.15-ga.zip.

This zip file encapsulates 194 individual files in different folders including source code files, class files, pdf files, xml files, jar files, license files, files with no extensions, a manifest file, HTML files, and other file types not listed here.

The zip file also contains several java programs in a folder named testsuite that can be used to test your installation. You may find them useful for that purpose. In addition, these programs illustrate a variety of database operations using JDBC, so you may find them useful as example programs as well.

Fortunately, as I will explain below, all but one of these files can be ignored insofar as installation of the connector software is concerned.

Installing MySQL Connector/J

General installation instructions

The following statement appears in the connector documentation Section 2.2.1. entitled Setting the CLASSPATH (For Standalone Use).

"Once you have un-archived the distribution archive, you can install the driver in one of two ways: Either copy the "com" and "org" subdirectories and all of their contents to anywhere you like, and put the directory holding the "com" and "org" subdirectories in your classpath, or put mysql-connector-java-[version]-bin.jar in your classpath, either by adding the FULL path to it to your CLASSPATH environment variable, or by copying the .jar file to $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/ext."

My installation

Actually, the above quotation describes three options instead of just two. To make a long story short, I elected the third option. I extracted the jar file named mysql-connector-java-3.0.15-ga-bin.jar from the zip file and copied it into the folder named c:\j2sdk1.4.2\jre\lib\ext, which is the installation directory tree for the currently installed version of Java on my computer.

The advantage of doing it this way was that I didn't have to modify the classpath environment variable. The disadvantage is that the next time I upgrade to a new version of Java, I must remember to save the MySQL connector jar file and copy it into the directory tree for my new Java installation.

Your installation

If you prefer the first option, the connector documentation contains a wealth of information to help you perform the necessary steps to modify the classpath, etc.

Testing the installation

I didn't use any of the test programs mentioned above in the folder named testsuite. Rather, I tested my installation using JDBC programs that I had developed earlier using a different SQL database server.

You can use the test programs mentioned earlier in the testsuite folder to test your installation. Also, I will provide and explain three sample JDBC programs later in this lesson that you can use to test your installation. Before you can test the installation, however, you must start the MySQL database server running.

Starting the database server

At this point, all of the software necessary to use the database server in a JDBC program should be installed on your computer ready for use. The next step is to confirm that you can start the database server running.

Selecting a Windows server

I found it necessary to pull together several pieces of information from the database server documentation to determine the best way to start the server from a command line. For example, the following table is found in the database server documentation, Section 2.2.1.4 entitled Selecting a Windows Server.