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Avenir · Aug 4, 2004, 07:26 PM

Ok, don't shoot me, because I did a search, and I swear, my question must be so basic that no one ever thought to ask it before.

Here's the scoop: I wasnt to use mySQL to run a forum (probably phpbb) on a site at my school. The IT Department said that I can use MySQL, but because they don't support it (they do support php), they didn't give me any instructions. I have a mySQL databse and forum set up on my personal site (hosted elsewhere), but MySQL was already there, and I just added the database I needed. I know what MySQL can basically do, but I've never installed it before. But I don't need installation instructions because, according to them, it's already there (that and I don't have Note Dame server admin access to install it). When I run a test script at ND here , it says some stuff about MySQL, but I'm not sure what it means.

I guess what I'm saying is that I want to setup a database on a system with MySQL already installed, but I don't know how. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, or anywhere you can send me with better info. Thanks in advance.

Also
www3.nd.edu/whatever will read and run .php, .cgi (if set up), and so I'm assuming MySQL. www.nd.edu/whatever will just load the same page, but no execution. The "www" folder (I see it mentioned in php info) is where we put files to be read after the /~username from our afs space, fyi.

Simon Mundy · Aug 4, 2004, 10:03 PM

Originally posted by Avenir:
Ok, don't shoot me, because I did a search, and I swear, my question must be so basic that no one ever thought to ask it before.

Here's the scoop: I wasnt to use mySQL to run a forum (probably phpbb) on a site at my school. The IT Department said that I can use MySQL, but because they don't support it (they do support php), they didn't give me any instructions. I have a mySQL databse and forum set up on my personal site (hosted elsewhere), but MySQL was already there, and I just added the database I needed. I know what MySQL can basically do, but I've never installed it before. But I don't need installation instructions because, according to them, it's already there (that and I don't have Note Dame server admin access to install it). When I run a test script at ND here , it says some stuff about MySQL, but I'm not sure what it means.

I guess what I'm saying is that I want to setup a database on a system with MySQL already installed, but I don't know how. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, or anywhere you can send me with better info. Thanks in advance.

Also
www3.nd.edu/whatever will read and run .php, .cgi (if set up), and so I'm assuming MySQL. www.nd.edu/whatever will just load the same page, but no execution. The "www" folder (I see it mentioned in php info) is where we put files to be read after the /~username from our afs space, fyi.

The info you're getting from the test.php page only lets you know that the correct MySQL libraries have been compiled with PHP, so you can access a database from one of your scripts. It tells you nothing, though, about any MySQL servers that you want to access.

You need to ask your IT department to provide you with a user account with enough privileges to have your own database and to administer it. All you'll need is the host address (usually 'localhost'), and the username, password and database name which the IT dept can provide to you.

To administer the database, I'd recommend phpMyAdmin and configure it using 'auth' so you need to authenticate with your MySQL username/password before you can access your database. It'd be even better if you could install phpMyAdmin on a secure server so your passwords and data were at least encrypted - especially on a college network.

That's a start for now.

Avenir · Aug 4, 2004, 10:57 PM

Thanks for the reply. I guess it is as complicated as I thought. OIT sent me this email from school, it seemed like the guy was making it sound like I could do it on my own, but maybe not.

"PHP on www3.nd.edu is compiled with mysql enabled. You may call phpinfo()
to see its configuration. OIT does not support mysql. You may set mysql on
AFS by your own to see how to make it work."

In any case, I guess I'll be emailing them again. Thanks.

Amorya · Aug 5, 2004, 06:26 AM

Originally posted by Avenir:
Thanks for the reply. I guess it is as complicated as I thought. OIT sent me this email from school, it seemed like the guy was making it sound like I could do it on my own, but maybe not.

"PHP on www3.nd.edu is compiled with mysql enabled. You may call phpinfo()
to see its configuration. OIT does not support mysql. You may set mysql on
AFS by your own to see how to make it work."

In any case, I guess I'll be emailing them again. Thanks.

Well, you can run PHP files, right?

Try installing PHPMyAdmin. You just need to download a copy and then put it in a folder in your web directory. Edit the configuration of PHPMyAdmin to include your mysql username and password - which if you don't know, try the same as your account username and password. The hostname should be localhost.

If successful, PHPMyAdmin should let you create and manipulate databases.

Amorya

Amorya · Aug 5, 2004, 06:28 AM

Originally posted by Amorya:
Well, you can run PHP files, right?

Try installing PHPMyAdmin. You just need to download a copy and then put it in a folder in your web directory. Edit the configuration of PHPMyAdmin to include your mysql username and password - which if you don't know, try the same as your account username and password. The hostname should be localhost. (Instructions on where to enter the username and password will be in the readme - I can't remember which file it is at present.)

If successful, PHPMyAdmin should let you create and manipulate databases.

Amorya

Arkham_c · Aug 5, 2004, 12:22 PM

Originally posted by Avenir:
Thanks for the reply. I guess it is as complicated as I thought. OIT sent me this email from school, it seemed like the guy was making it sound like I could do it on my own, but maybe not.

"PHP on www3.nd.edu is compiled with mysql enabled. You may call phpinfo()
to see its configuration. OIT does not support mysql. You may set mysql on
AFS by your own to see how to make it work."

What this means is that PHP is compiled with MySQL SUPPORT built in. It does NOT mean that MySQL is installed.

You can install MySQL yourself. It's pretty easy, and MySQL runs on a non-priveledged port. What you need to know is, what platform is the server? Linux? Sun? Mac? If it's a common platform, they may already have a binary for you.

http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/4.0.html

Just make sure you get one that is ".tar.gz" and not ".rpm". Extract the tarball in your home directory, then follow the instructions for setting the database root password and starting up MySQL.

Avenir · Aug 5, 2004, 02:38 PM

Originally posted by Amorya:
Well, you can run PHP files, right?

Try installing PHPMyAdmin. You just need to download a copy and then put it in a folder in your web directory. Edit the configuration of PHPMyAdmin to include your mysql username and password - which if you don't know, try the same as your account username and password. The hostname should be localhost.

If successful, PHPMyAdmin should let you create and manipulate databases.

I set all that up per your advice (the config file is "config.inc.php" ) but it says it was unable to connect. I have server to "localhost" and user/pass as you suggested.

That this means is that PHP is compiled with MySQL SUPPORT built in. It does NOT mean that MySQL is installed.

You can install MySQL yourself. It's pretty easy, and MySQL runs on a non-priveledged port. What you need to know is, what platform is the server? Linux? Sun? Mac? If it's a common platform, they may already have a binary for you.

http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/4.0.html

Just make sure you get one that is ".tar.gz" and not ".rpm". Extract the tarball in your home directory, then follow the instructions for setting the database root password and starting up MySQL.

I tried to do this, but I cannot figure out the installation instructions. I don't have shell access or anything like that to do the installation, as it is not my server. The instructions on the mysql site don't seem to apply to me, but I could be misreading them. The platform, I did find out, is Solaris/Sun UNIX boxes, so I have the right distribution. If anyone else has any suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated.

Arkham_c · Aug 5, 2004, 10:24 PM

Originally posted by Avenir:
I tried to do this, but I cannot figure out the installation instructions. I don't have shell access or anything like that to do the installation, as it is not my server. The instructions on the mysql site don't seem to apply to me, but I could be misreading them. The platform, I did find out, is Solaris/Sun UNIX boxes, so I have the right distribution. If anyone else has any suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated.

You can't install MySQL without shell access. I assumed you had that.

Avenir · Aug 5, 2004, 11:13 PM

Originally posted by Arkham_c:
You can't install MySQL without shell access. I assumed you had that.

oh, nope, sorry to mislead. I just have normal user access, just to my space on the servers, that's why I figured it wouldn't work from the beginning. Oh well, on the bright side this means less work for me, as the site will be mostly static and simpler