MySQL Installation Wizard is an installer for the MySQL server that uses the latest installer technologies for Microsoft Windows. The MySQL Installation Wizard, in combination with the MySQL Config Wizard, allows a user to install and configure a MySQL server that is ready for use immediately after installation.

The MySQL Installation Wizard uses the standard Microsoft Installer Engine (MSI) system is the standard installer for all MySQL server distributions, version 4.1.5 and higher. Users of previous versions of MySQL need to shut down and remove their existing MySQL installations manually before installing MySQL with the MySQL Installation Wizard. See Section 1.3.1.6, “Upgrading MySQL with the Installation Wizard”, for more information on upgrading from a previous version.

If you are upgrading an installation from MySQL 5.1.31 or earlier to MySQL 5.1.32 or later, read the notes provided in Section 1.3.1.6, “Upgrading MySQL with the Installation Wizard”.

The Microsoft Windows Installer Engine was updated with the release of Windows XP; those using a previous version of Windows can reference this Microsoft Knowledge Base article for information on upgrading to the latest version of the Windows Installer Engine.

In addition, Microsoft has introduced the WiX (Windows Installer XML) toolkit. This is the first highly acknowledged Open Source project from Microsoft. We have switched to WiX because it is an Open Source project and it allows us to handle the complete Windows installation process in a flexible manner using scripts.

Improving the MySQL Installation Wizard depends on the support and feedback of users like you. If you find that the MySQL Installation Wizard is lacking some feature important to you, or if you discover a bug, please report it in our bugs database using the instructions given in How to Report Bugs or Problems.