In another thread I was looking at which mySQL installation I should use for my system (red hat 9) as Apache and PHP were pre-installed.

I decided on the binaries package and installed it. I've been really stuck ever since.

I installed it using the instructions provided, but from the first time I ran it its been nothing but a hassle. I cant stop it for one thing. I rebooted and it wasnt running, but then for some reason I cant run the files anymore. I go to the directory where it is installed and run mysqld_safe as instructed in the documentation and it just says bash: mysqld_safe: command not found. I can see it though ... its in the directory I am calling it from.

I can get Webmin to start it and stop it on occasion, but not always.

I logged in as root and got the same thing.

Then, I found that php isn't loading the mysql libraries so I cant access any databases through PHP which was the prupose of the whole excersise.

I'm just stumped guys ... I really am. Can anybody throw be a line here?

Thanks

Did you install the default databases?

Also try:

./mysql_safe

And check your /etc/my.cnf file

Ok. I didnt have a my.cnf file, so I used the example file my-medium.cnf and saved it there as my.cnf

I'm a little unsure of how to even start it.

There is a file called mysqld_safe in the bin directory (/usr/local/mysql/bin) but as I mentioned, I cannot just boot the machine, go into a terminal window and run the file. It just says that the command was not found.

There was a procedure I was supposed to follow to get the server to start on reboot, which I did, but it doesnt seem to be running when it boots.

What is the difference between mysqld and mysqld_safe anyhow?

Hope you can shed some light on this for me.