Install MySQL 8 on Windows

In this article, we show the detailed steps of how to download and install MySQL on the Windows platform.

Installing MySQL on the Windows platform is very simple and easy. Please Follow the steps in this article.

Download the MySQL installer

We need to use the MySQL installer to install MySQL on the Windows platform.

Please go to the Official MySQL download page to download the MySQL installer. The download page provides 2 installer files for downloading:

  • Online Installation Version : During the installation process, the components selected by the user need to be downloaded online and then installed. The corresponding file is mysql-installer-web-community-<version>.msi about 2M in size.
  • Full Installation Version : Contains all components, and does not need to be connected to the Internet during the installation process. The corresponding file is mysql-installer-community-<version>.exe about 450M in size.

The results after the installation of the two installers are exactly the same, you can choose to download them according to your needs. Here we choose to download the Online installation version .

Install MySQL

After downloading the MySQL installer file, double-click the file to start the installation process.

  1. On the Select Installation Type page, you can see five installation options.

    • Developer Default : The default installation option. It installs the components required for developing applications, such as MySQL server, MySQL Shell, MySQL connector, etc.
    • Server Only : Only the MySQL Server is installed, without command line tools and other components.
    • Client Only : Only install MySQL client tools and other components, not including MySQL Server.
    • Full : Install the MySQL server and all its components
    • Custom : Customize and install the components you need

    We will install MySQL server and all components, select “Full” and click “Next”.

    Select the setting type of MySQL database server

  2. Check the required components

    Before the installation starts, the installer checks the prerequisites required for the installation. The interface will display the product name, required components/software and their status. As you can see, to install MySQL for visual studio, you must install visual studio 2015 or above. Similarly, to install Connector/Python 8.0.19, we must first install python.

    • If there is an “Execute” button on this page , first click the “Execute” button, and then click “Next”.
    • If there is no “Execute” button, click “Next” directly .

    Check the requirements for installing the MySQL database server

    The installer warned us. Let’s continue the installation and click “Yes”.

    Does not meet product requirements.

  3. Install selected product components

    On the installation interface, you can see a list of MySQL products/software to be installed. View the list and click “Execute”.

    Product List

    The installer will automatically download all products/software, and then it will automatically install all products.

    Download MySQL database server and its components

    Wait a few minutes. After the installation process is complete, we can configure the MySQL database server and other components. Click “Next” to enter the configuration interface.

    The installation is complete

  4. Product configuration

    On the product configuration interface, you can see a list of products that need to be configured. Click “Next”.

    Configure MySQL database server

  5. Configure high availability

    On the high availability interface, we select “Standalone MySql Server / Classic MySQL Replication”. This is to choose our server as a standalone server or a classic MySQL replication server.

    Choose a high availability option

  6. Configure server type and network

    On the type and network interface, we can configure the following:

    • Config Type: Configuration type
      • Development Computer: taking up the least resources.
      • Server Computer: which can be installed together with other server software, such as web server. Moderate resource occupation.
      • Dedicated Computer: which can take up resources to the maximum.
    • Connectivity: You can control how the client connects to the MySQL database

    Select database server type

    Configure the network

  7. Configure authentication method

    In MySQL 8.0 version, we can use strong passwords based on SHA256. On the Authentication Method interface, select the option to use traditional authentication methods or strong passwords for authentication. Note: If you use strong password encryption for authentication, make sure that all clients or connectors must be updated to the latest version. We use strong password encryption for authentication .

    Enable strong password encryption

  8. Configure Accounts and Roles

    In the Accounts and Roles on the screen, you can specify the MySQL root account password. The MySQL root account is the default sysadmin account. For security, it is generally disabled.

    Specify root password and create MySQL user account

  9. Configure Windows services

    On the Windows Service interface, the MySQL server can be configured to run as a Windows service. We can customize the name of the service and how to start the service.

    Configure the MySQL database server as a Windows service

  10. Apply Configuration

    On the “Apply Configuration” interface, we can see the steps to save the configuration. After checking all configuration settings, click “Execute”.

    Application configuration

    After waiting for the configuration to be saved successfully, click “Finish” to close the installer.

    MySQL database server is configured

Install the sample database

After completing the above steps, if you choose the complete installation type at the beginning of the installation, the installation program will continue to return to the product configuration interface. Click Next and the MySQL installer will continue to install the sample database.

  1. On this screen, enter your username root and password, then click “Check”. If the connection is established successfully, click “Next”. See below:

    Connect to the server to install the sample database

  2. On the Apply Configuration Screen, click “Execute” to start installing the sample database. Please refer to the following:

    Install the sample database

    After installing the sample database, click the “Finish” button.

    The sample database is installed

  3. The installation program continues to the product configuration interface. On this interface, you can see that the installation of MySQL Server 8.0.19 and Sample and Example 8.0.19 has been successfully completed. See below:

    Samples and sample databases are installed

  4. After the installation is complete, you can copy the installation log to the clipboard for future review. In addition, if you want to start exploring MySQL immediately, then you can select “Start MySQL Workbench after Setup” and “Start MySQL Shell after Setup”, and then click Finish . See below:

    Complete the community installer

Upon completion, MySQL installer introduced in the world database and the sakila database:

  • The world database is a data containing countries and cities in the world.
  • The sakila database is a database about DVD (movie) rental shop business.

Connect to MySQL server

After installing the MySQL server, you can connect to the MySQL server through the MySQL command line tool or other MySQL client programs (such as MySQL Workbench, Navicat, etc.). For a more detailed introduction, please jump to the Connect to MySQL Server tutorial.

Conclusion

In this article, we showed the step-by-step installation of MySQL database server 8.0.19 on Windows platform.

If you use other operating system platforms, please use the following tutorial: