Chapter 1. General Information

The MySQL® software delivers a very fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL (Structured Query Language) database server. MySQL Server is intended for mission-critical, heavy-load production systems as well as for embedding into mass-deployed software. MySQL is a registered trademark of MySQL AB.

The MySQL software is dual licensed. Users can choose to use the MySQL software as an Open Source product under the terms of the GNU General Public License (http://www.fsf.org/licenses/) or can purchase a standard commercial license from MySQL AB. See http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/licensing/ for more information on our licensing policies.

The following list describes some sections of particular interest in this manual:

• For a discussion about the capabilities of the MySQL Database Server, see Section 1.4.2, "The Main Features of MySQL."

• For installation instructions, see Chapter 2, "Installing and Upgrading MySQL." For information about upgrading MySQL, see Section 2.10, Upgrading MySQL."

• For information about configuring and administering MySQL Server, see Chapter 4, "Database Administration."

• For information about setting up replication servers, see Chapter 5, "Replication."

• For benchmarking information, see the sql-bench benchmarking directory in your MySQL distribution.

• For a history of new features and bugfixes, see the change history in the online "MySQL Reference Manual" at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/.

• For future plans, see Section 1.6, "MySQL Development Roadmap."

Important:

To report errors (often called "bugs"), please use the instructions at Section 1.8, "How to Report Bugs or Problems."

If you have found a sensitive security bug in MySQL Server, please let us know immediately by sending an email message to security@mysql.com.