This appendix helps you port MySQL to other operating systems. Do check the list of currently supported operating systems first. See Section 2.4.2, “Operating Systems Supported by MySQL Community Server”. If you have created a new port of MySQL, please let us know so that we can list it here and on our Web site (http://www.mysql.com/), recommending it to other users.

Note: If you create a new port of MySQL, you are free to copy and distribute it under the GPL license, but it does not make you a copyright holder of MySQL.

A working POSIX thread library is needed for the server. On Solaris 2.5 we use Sun PThreads (the native thread support in 2.4 and earlier versions is not good enough), on Linux we use LinuxThreads by Xavier Leroy, <Xavier.Leroy@inria.fr>.

The hard part of porting to a new Unix variant without good native thread support is probably to port MIT-pthreads. See mit-pthreads/README and Programming POSIX Threads (http://www.humanfactor.com/pthreads/).

Up to MySQL 4.0.2, the MySQL distribution included a patched version of Chris Provenzano's Pthreads from MIT (see the MIT Pthreads Web page at http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/pthreads/ and a programming introduction at http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/proven/IAP_2000/). These can be used for some operating systems that do not have POSIX threads. See Section 2.16.5, “MIT-pthreads Notes”.

It is also possible to use another user level thread package named FSU Pthreads (see http://moss.csc.ncsu.edu/~mueller/pthreads/). This implementation is being used for the SCO port.

See the thr_lock.c and thr_alarm.c programs in the mysys directory for some tests/examples of these problems.

Both the server and the client need a working C++ compiler. We use gcc on many platforms. Other compilers that are known to work are SPARCworks, Sun Forte, Irix cc, HP-UX aCC, IBM AIX xlC_r), Intel ecc/icc and Compaq cxx).

To compile only the client use ./configure --without-server.

There is currently no support for only compiling the server, nor is it likely to be added unless someone has a good reason for it.

If you want/need to change any Makefile or the configure script you also need GNU Automake and Autoconf. See Section 2.16.3, “Installing from the Development Source Tree”.

All steps needed to remake everything from the most basic files.

/bin/rm */.deps/*.P
/bin/rm -f config.cache
aclocal
autoheader
aclocal
automake
autoconf
./configure --with-debug=full --prefix='your installation directory'

# The makefiles generated above need GNU make 3.75 or newer.
# (called gmake below)
gmake clean all install init-db

If you run into problems with a new port, you may have to do some debugging of MySQL! See Section 21.4.1, “Debugging a MySQL Server”.