The CatDV Server supports a number of databases including MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server, and Java H2. You can choose which database to use in the Setup Wizard of the CatDV Server Control Panel. The instructions below show how to install MySQL database server software on your server machine.
Please note that the current recommended version of MySQL is 5.7.24 – CatDV Server does not support MySQL 8.0+ and for CatDV Server 7.4 or higher, does not support MySQL versions prior to 5.7.
Please note that MySQL is an open source database available for download and installation at no cost. However, if you are using it for commercial purposes you should purchase a basic MySQL network license and support. The cost of the MySQL license is very reasonable and doing so will both support the MySQL development efforts and provide assistance if you should need it for the database itself.
Mac OS X Server
If you use Mac OS X Server (10.6 or earlier) you can skip the installation step as MySQL is already installed by default. However, you do need to make sure MySQL is running and that network connections are allowed:
- Under 10.3 and 10.4, launch Applications > Server > MySQL Manager. Alternatively, under 10.5 and 10.6, launch Applications > Server > Server Admin.app go to the Services tab, and enable MySQL.
- Check the “Allow network connections” box and press Start MySQL. If MySQL is already running you will need to stop it first, then restart it again afterwards.
Mac OS X
If you don’t already have MySQL on your machine download the MySQL Community Edition from www.mysql.com. You need Adminstrator privileges to perform these once only steps:
- Visit http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/ and download the 5.1.XX (or later) Installer Package installation appropriate for your Mac OS X version (there are separate downloads depending on your process and Mac OS X version). Select a ‘Standard’ release. Click “Pick a mirror” to download the software.
- Double click the .dmg file to open the disk image. (Safari will normally open the disk image automatically once it has downloaded.)
- When you double click the .dmg file this will open a disk image with two installation files, mysql-standard-5.XX.pkg and MySQLStartupItem.pkg. The first is the MySQL database software itself (which will be installed in /usr/local/mysql). The second installs a startup item (in /Library/StartupItems) to start MySQL automatically each time your computer is started. We recommend you install both, by double clicking on them in turn and following the installer instructions, though you can omit the startup item and launch MySQL manually if you prefer.
- MySQL also comes with a convenient System Preferences item to start and stop the server. Create a folder /Library/PreferencePanes if you don’t already have one, then copy MySQL.prefPane to /Library/PreferencePanes.
- To start the MySQL server the first time open the MySQL item in System Preferences. Alternatively, start the Terminal application and type the following
sudo /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM/MySQLCOM start
entering your administrator password when requested.
- Make sure MySQL is installed correctly and you can type “/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql” to start the text-based client program to access the database. If you successfully see the “mysql>” prompt type “quit” (or press Ctrl-C) to exit mysql and return to the command shell and then proceed to “CatDV Server Installation” (section 3.4 below).
- Optionally, you can set a password for the MySQL root user (which is different from the ‘root’ user under Mac OS X or Unix) by typing the following in Terminal:
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin –u root –password secret
where secret is the password you want to set.
Creating a my.cnf config file (Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server)
A MySQL installation has a large number of tuning and other configuration parameters that can be set by means of a my.cnf configuration file. Unlike Windows, where the installer automatically creates a my.ini config file, by default a MySQL configuration under Mac OS X won’t automatically have a config file, which means that MySQL will run with default values for its configuration.
If you don’t already have a my.cnf config file then it’s a good idea to create one so you can set up various MySQL parameters as required. The easiest way to do this is copy an existing template file to /etc/my.cnf .
When you launch the CatDV Control Panel it will offer to install a default config file for you.
You can also install a config file manually, either coping my-sample.cnf from the CatDV installation directory or using one of the templates provided by MySQL itself (/usr/share/mysql/my-large.cnf under Mac OS X Server, /usr/local/mysql/support-files/my-large.cnf under Mac OS X). Use Terminal.app to run the following command and enter your password when prompted to do so by the sudo command:
sudo cp templateFile /etc/my.cnf
Note that MySQL looks for its config file in a number of places and while /etc/my.cnf is the standard location your site may already have a config file elsewhere. Consult your administrator if you’re not sure.
Windows
If you don’t already have MySQL on your machine download the MySQL Community Edition from www.mysql.com.
- Ensure that you have .Net 4 installed on your machine. Generally, if you are running Windows Update then you should already have this, but if not it can be downloaded from Microsoft’s download site if required.
- Go to http://www.mysql.com/downloads and download the MySQL Installer for Windows for either 32bit or 64bit systems depending on you machine/operating system type.
- Double click the downloaded MSI installer to install MySQL.
- It is recommended that you choose Full Install and then accept the defaults recemmended by the MySQL installation wizard.
- At the Configuration step:
- Choose – Server Machine on first page
- Select – Enable TCP/IP Networking with default port number 3306
- Select – Create Windows Service with default name “MySQL55”
- Choose a root password
- At the Complete stage untick Start MySQL Workbench after Setup
Windows – Older MySQL Versions
If for some reason you need to use an older version of MySQL 4.1 which doesn’t have the MSI installer you will need to do some extra manual steps:
- Install MySQL to a location such as C:mysql. (This directory will contain both the programs that MySQL uses and the database files for CatDV and any other databases.) Select a typical install.
- Assuming you used C:mysql, add C:mysqlbin to your PATH. (My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables > System Variables)
- Run winmysqladmin.exe (from C:mysqlbin) to start MySQL as an NT service. You will be prompted to enter a username (choose ‘root’) and password for the MySQL administrator user. Enter a password (eg. secret) and note this for when you install the Workgroup Server.
- Alternatively, open a DOS prompt and type “mysqladmin -u root password secret” to set a password for the MySQL root user. Replace ‘secret with your chosen secret password.
- Make sure MySQL is installed correctly and you can type “mysql” to start the text-based client program to access the database. If you successfully see the “mysql>” prompt type “quit” (or press Ctrl-C) to exit mysql and return to the command shell and then proceed to “Java Installation” as described below.
- Many Linux installations come with MySQL pre-installed. If not, please visit http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.1.html and download and install the appropriate version for your platform (including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, AIX etc.)
- Follow the instructions provided with MySQL to install a binary distribution, set appropriate permissions, and start the server.
- Make sure MySQL is installed correctly and you can type “mysql” to start the text-based client program to access the database. If you successfully see the “mysql>” prompt type “quit” (or press Ctrl-C) to exit mysql and return to the command shell and then proceed to “CatDV Server Installation” as described below.
Linux/Generic Unix
Many Linux installations come with MySQL pre-installed. If not:
- Visit http://www.mysql.com/downloads and download and install the appropriate version for your platform (including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, AIX etc.)
- Follow the instructions provided with MySQL to install a binary distribution, set appropriate permissions, and start the server.
- Make sure MySQL is installed correctly and you can type “mysql” to start the text-based client program to access the database. If you successfully see the “mysql>” prompt type “quit” (or press Ctrl-C) to exit mysql and return to the command shell and then proceed to “CatDV Server Installation” as described below.