What are the Types of MySQL server software distribution

MySQL Server Distributions

MySQL is available for several operating systems, including Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and Oracle Solaris. MySQL is available as both binary and source distributions:

Binary distributions: Are precompiled, ready-to-run programs that are available for Enterprise and Community MySQL Server versions. These binaries are the official Oracle-tested versions.
Source distributions: Are not guaranteed to be consistent with commercial code updates, nor do they include Oracle support.

Refer to the MySQL downloads website for a complete list of available OS types: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/.

MySQL Binary Distributions

Some of the Advantages of using binary distributions are:

Created by experienced MySQL staff
Good configuration options for improved performance
High-quality commercial compilers
Extensive libraries provided
Include tested bug fixes, third-party patches, and features

Binary for Linux

1. RPM files are available for RPM-based Linux distributions, such as Oracle Linux. These files are installed by using the rpm program, or by using a package manager such as yum. The installation layout for each RPM is given by a specification file contained within the RPM file itself. (Use rpm -qpl to determine where the contents of an RPM file are located upon installation.)

Note: See http://rpm.org/ for more information about RPM files.

2. **TAR **files are available for many varieties of Linux and UNIX-like systems. To install this kind of distribution, unpack it using the .tar program in the installation directory.

For more information about specific packages available for Linux distributions, see http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/.

Binary for Windows

1. Complete distribution: Contains all files for a MySQL installation, as well as the configuration wizard. 2. No-install distribution: A .zip archive for which no installation or configuration wizard is used. You simply unpack it and move it to the desired installation location.

Binary distributions are also available for several other operating systems (including Oracle Solaris) as compressed files.

MySQL Source Distributions

MySQL Source Distributions Are used when:

No binary exists for your particular platform
You need to enable a source-only feature
You need to disable a feature that is not needed
You need to access the most current code

MySQL Source Distributions Require you to compile the source code and are provided as compressed .tar archives. You should compile MySQL from source code if you require a feature that might not be available in a precompiled distribution (such as full debugging support). To produce a server that uses less memory when it runs, you may need to disable a feature that is not needed. For example, you may need to disable optional storage engines, or compile only those character sets that are really needed.

Binary distributions are available only for released versions and not for the very latest development source code. A source distribution can be installed at any desired location. The default Linux installation location is /usr/local/mysql.

You can find the basic commands to install a MySQL source distribution in the MySQL Reference Manual: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/source-installation.html.

MySQL RPM Installation Files for Linux

The recommended way to install MySQL on RPM-based Linux distributions is by using the RPM packages, in the form of .rpm files. RPM files are provided for many platforms, such as Oracle Linux, SuSE, and other Linux versions. Many more distributions are available for other types of *nix systems, including Oracle Solaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X.

Oracle provides two types of MySQL RPMs:

Distribution-independent: The RPMs that MySQL provides to the community, which should work on all versions of Linux that support RPM packages and use glibc 2.3
Distribution-specific: Intended for a targeted Linux platform

An RPM installation for MySQL is typically split into different packages. For a standard installation, you must install at least the server and client programs. The other packages are not required for a standard installation. For specific details about each of the RPM package files, see the MySQL Reference Manual: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/linux-installationrpm.html.