I was asked this question recently “I am wanting to create a simple MySQL database consisting of 5 tables”?

While it’s easy to tell people to RTFM, the question does warrant an answer for the MySQL beginner to provide a more specific guidance as to where to start, and what to do. As a expert in MySQL it’s easy to forget how you would describe what to do. Here are my tips to getting started.

Step 1. Download the MySQL 5.1 software for your platform (e.g. Linux, Windows, Mac etc) from MySQL 5.1 Downloads. There are many different versions of MySQL, MySQL 5.1 is the current production version.

Step 2. You will need to install the MySQL software. The MySQL reference manual is the place to go, Chapter 2 describes installing MySQL. You can also download a copy of the manual in …