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MySQL Workbench :: 3 Installing MySQL Workbench :: 3.1 Installing MySQL Workbench on Windows
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3.1. Installing MySQL Workbench on Windows

The requirements for installing MySQL Workbench are:

  1. MySQL Workbench runs on recent 32-bit Windows NT based operating systems, including Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2003. It does not run on Windows 2000 and below.

  2. The Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework, or later, is a requirement.

  3. The following libraries are also required:

    • Cairo 1.6.0 or later

    • glib-2.10

    • libxml-2.6

    • libsigc++ 2.0

    • pcre

    • libzip

    For convenience these libraries are available as the download “Required Windows Dependencies”.

  4. On start up, the application checks the OpenGL version and selects between software and hardware rendering. To determine the rendering method that is being used, open the Help menu and choose the System Info submenu.

MySQL Workbench may be installed using the Windows installer file or it may be installed manually from a ZIP file.

Installing MySQL Workbench Using the Installer

MySQL Workbench can be installed using the Windows Installer (.msi) installation package. The MSI package bears the name mysql-workbench-version-win32.msi, where version indicates the MySQL Workbench version number.

Important

Installing MySQL Workbench using the installer requires either Administrator or Power User privileges. If you are using the ZIP file without an installer, you do not need Administrator or Power User privileges.

Improving the MySQL Installation Wizard depends on the support and feedback of users. 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. To do this use the Report a Bug option under the Help menu.

  1. To install MySQL Workbench, right click on the MSI file and select the Install option from the pop-up menu, or simply double-click the file.

  2. In the Setup Type window you may choose a Complete or Custom installation. To use all features of MySQL Workbench choose the Complete option.

  3. Unless you choose otherwise, MySQL Workbench is installed in C:\%PROGRAMFILES%\MySQL\MySQL Workbench 5.1 edition_type\, where %PROGRAMFILES% is the default directory for programs for your locale. The %PROGRAMFILES% directory may be C:\Program Files or C:\programme.

Installing from the ZIP File

If you are having problems running the installer, as an alternative, you can download a ZIP file without an installer. That file is called mysql-workbench-version-win32.zip. Using a ZIP utility, unpack it to the directory of your choice. You may also want to create a shortcut on your desktop or the quick launch bar.

To install using the ZIP file, download the ZIP file to a convenient location and decompress the file. You can place the resulting directory anywhere on you system. You do not need to install or configure the application before using it.