Which MySQL Version and Distribution to Install?

Let us understand which version and distribution of MySQL needs to be installed depending on various attributes −

Which Release?

Determine if you wish to install a development release or a GA (General Availability) release.

The Developmental Releases have the new features, but they are not recommended to be used in production environment.

On the other hand, GA release, which are also known as production or stable releases, are used in production, since they don’t have any ambiguous feature or something that is still in experimental stage.

Version Number

When a version number is given as mysql−8.0.1−dmr, the number ‘8’ refers to the major version number. The second number, which is 0 here, refers to the minor version number. When the major and minor version numbers are combined, it results in the release series number. This series number describes the stable feature set.

The third number, which is 1 here, refers to the version number of the release series. With every bug that is fixed, this number gets incremented. The most recent version within the series is the optimal choice to download.

Release names may include a suffix, such as ‘dmr’, in the above example. This indicates the level of stability of the version release. When releases are made within a series of values, their stability level is indicated through the suffix. Higher the suffix, greater is the stability. There are many suffixes, and some of them have been discussed below −

Development Milestone Release

The term ‘dmr’ indicates a development milestone release. A milestone model indicates that a small subset of properly tested features are rolled out in that release.

From one milestone to the other, the interface of the features may change. Some features may be removed, some maybe added. This depends on the feedback provided by the community members who try the features early on during the release.

Release Candidate

The term ‘rc’ indicates a ‘release candidate’. They are considered stable, and would have passed all internal testing conducted by MySQL’s. New features may be introduced in ‘rc’, but the emphasis is on fixing bugs, and making a stable version within the series.