MIDAS Knowledgebase

How to install & configure MySQL on a Windows server

This article is part of our "How to install pre-requisites needed for running a self-hosted edition of MIDAS from a Windows server" series.

It applies to self-hosted installations of MIDAS on Windows-based servers only.

MIDAS requires either MySQL or MariaDB to be installed. This article outlines how to install MySQL on Windows. Instructions for installing MariaDB may be found here instead.

This article outlines how to install MySQL on Windows.

Please note that this article is provided "as is" and is correct at time of writing. For further assistance installing/configuring MySQL, please refer to the vendor's own documentation/support.

This article assumes that you've already successfully completed our previous "How to install & configure Apache on a Windows server" and guide.

Contents:

• Step 1 - Download MySQL for Windows
• Step 2 - Install MySQL

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Step 1 - Download MySQL for Windows

MySQL for Windows may be downloaded from MySQL.com.
A free "MySQL Community Server" edition is available in both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions, depending upon whether your Windows server runs a 32 or 64-bit Windows operating system (the installer for either version is itself 32-bit):

Both a "web" installer and a "standalone" installer of the MySQL COmmunity Server are available:

Choose your version and click "Download". You'll then be offered the option to signup or login to an Oracle Web account, but you can skip this step by clicking the "No thanks just start my download" link:

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Step 2 - Install MySQL

Run the MySQL Installer, read & accept the License Agreement, and choose a setup type:

As a minimum, you'll need to install the MySQL server, so we'd suggest selecting the "Server only" option.

The installer will then download (in the case of the "web" installer) and then install the selected components:

Once installation is complete, click "Next" to configure your MySQL server:

Select the "Config Type" most applicable to your server. This should either be "Server Machine" in the case that you're installing MySQL on a server where other applications are installed/running, or "Dedicated Machine" in the case that the server you're installing MySQL on is to be dedicated to MySQL only and won't be running any other applications/services.

You can also specify "Connectivity" options on this screen. In most cases, you can leave these as the default (TCP/IP Port 3306).

Click "Next" and you'll then be prompted to setup a MySQL root password:

This should be a secure password as it will be used to protect your MySQL server from unauthorized changes/access. You can also setup additional MySQL user accounts from this screen. If your MySQL server is to be used for multiple applications as well as MIDAS, it's strongly advisable to setup dedicated MySQL user accounts for each service which will be utilizing your MySQL server.

Click "Next" and you'll then be presented with options to configure MySQL to run as a Windows Service, so that it automatically runs whenever Windows starts:

Ensure the "Configure MySQL Server as a Windows Service" and "Start the MySQL Server at System Startup" options are selected and that the Windows Service is set to run as a "Standard System Account"

Clicking "Next" will then configure and start your MySQL server:

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