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MYSQL.Install
First download the package at www.mysql.com
Next extract the package to a temporary directory, then run setup.exe. Keep clicking the next button to complete the installation. By default MySQL will be installed in C:\mysql.
Open a DOS window and go to C:\mysql\bin and then run mysqld-nt --console , you should see some messages like these :
C:\mysql\bin>mysqld-nt --console
InnoDB: The first specified data file .\ibdata1 did not exist:
InnoDB: a new database to be created!
040807 10:54:09 InnoDB: Setting file .\ibdata1 size to 10 MB
InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...
040807 10:54:11 InnoDB: Log file .\ib_logfile0 did not exist: new to be created
InnoDB: Setting log file .\ib_logfile0 size to 5 MB
InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...
040807 10:54:12 InnoDB: Log file .\ib_logfile1 did not exist: new to be created
InnoDB: Setting log file .\ib_logfile1 size to 5 MB
InnoDB: Database physically writes the file full: wait...
InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer not found: creating new
InnoDB: Doublewrite buffer created
InnoDB: Creating foreign key constraint system tables
InnoDB: Foreign key constraint system tables created
040807 10:54:31 InnoDB: Started
mysqld-nt: ready for connections.
Version: '4.0.18-nt' socket: '' port: 3306
Now open another DOS window and type C:\mysql\bin\mysql
if your installation is successful you will see the MySQL client running :
C:\mysql\bin>mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.0.18-nt
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql>
Type exit on the mysql> prompt to quit the MySQL client.
Now let's install MySQL as a Service. The process is simple just type mysqld-nt --install to install the service and net start mysql to run the service. But make sure to shutdown the server first using mysqladmin -u root shutdown
C:\mysql\bin>mysqladmin -u root shutdown
C:\mysql\bin>mysqld-nt --install
Service successfully installed.
C:\mysql\bin>net start mysql
The MySQL service was started successfully.
C:\mysql\bin>mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.0.18-nt
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.
mysql>
Modifying PHP Configuration File ( php.ini )
PHP stores all kinds of configuration in a file called php.ini.You can find this file in the directory where you installed PHP. Sometimes you will need to modify this file for example to use a PHP extension. I won't explain each and every configuration available just the ones that often need modification or special attention.
Some of the configurations are :
1. register_globals
2. error_reporting and display_errors
3. extension and extension_path
4. session.save_path
5. max_execution_time
register_globals
Before PHP 4.2.0 the default value for this configuration is On and after 4.2.0 the default value is Off. The reason for this change is because it is so easy to write insecure code with this value on. So make sure that this value is Off in php.ini.
error_reporting and display_errors
Set the value to error_reporting = E_ALL during development but after production set the value to error_reporting = E_NONE .
The reason to use E_ALL during development is so you can catch most of the nasty bugs in your code. PHP will complain just about any errors you make and spit out all kinds of warning ( for example if you're trying to use an uninitialized variable ).
However, after production you should change the value to E_NONE so PHP will keep quiet even if there's an error in your code. This way the user won't have to see all kinds of PHP error message when running the script.
One important thing to note is that you will also need to set the value of display_erros to On. Even if you set error_reporting = E_ALL you will not get any error message ( no matter how buggy our script is ) unless display_errors is set to On.
extension and extension_path
PHP4 comes with about 51 extensions such as GD library ( for graphics creation and manipulation ), CURL, PostgreSQL support etc. These extensions are not turned on automatically. If you need to use the extension, first you need to specify the location of the extensions and then uncomment the extension you want.
The value of extension_path must be set to the directory where the extension is installed which is PHP_INSTALL_DIR/extensions, with PHP_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where you install PHP. For example I installed PHP in C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\php so the extensions path is :
extension_path = C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/php/extensions/
Don't forget to add that last slash or it won't work
After specifying the extension_path you will need to uncomment the extension you want to use. In php.ini a comment is started using a semicolon (;). As an example if you want to use GD library then you must remove the semicolon at the beginning of ;extension=php_gd2.dll to extension=php_gd2.dll
session.save_path
This configuration tells PHP where to save the session data. You will need to set this value to an existing directory or you will not be able to use session. In Windows you can set this value as session.save_path = c:/windows/temp/
max_execution_time
The default value for max_execution_time is 30 ( seconds ). But for some scripts 30 seconds is just not enough to complete it's task. For example a database backup script may need more time to save a huge database.
If you think your script will need extra time to finish the job you can set this to a higher value. For example to set the maximun script execution time to 15 minutes ( 900 seconds ) you can modify the configuration as max_execution_time = 900
PHP have a convenient function to modify PHP configuration in runtime, ini_set(). Setting PHP configuration using this function will not make the effect permanent. It last only until the script ends.
That's it, now you have Apache, PHP and MySQL installed and running smoothly.
More on MySQL tutorials