Download MAMP for free. MAMP is a very easy to install compilation of Apache, PHP and MySQL for Mac OS X. Everything will be installed in one folder. XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MariaDB, PHP, and Perl. Just download and start the installer. XAMPP for Windows 7.2.34, 7.3.23 & 7.4.11. (mysql-query-browser-1.1.20-win.msi) MD5: b67ecf3b4e6bc2f6b87ba838b91ce9fb Windows (x86, 32-bit), ZIP Archive: Feb 7, 2006: 4.9M. Questions: I’m trying to setup up MySQL on mac os 10.6 using Homebrew by brew install mysql 5.1.52. Everything goes well and I am also successful with the mysqlinstalldb. Download MySQL Workbench for Mac to visual database design tool developed by MySQL. MySQL Workbench has had 1 update within the past 6 months.
Recommend switching to Docker
I finally switched to using Docker for local development on macOS. While the following tutorial works for macOS Catalina, it has limitations. I recommend following my latest tutorial on installing Apache, MySQL, and PHP on macOS using Docker.
Note: This post is for new installations. If you have installed Apache, PHP, and MySQL for Mac OS Mojave, read my post on Updating Apache, PHP, and MySQL for macOS Catalina.
I am aware of the web server software available for macOS, notably MAMP, as well as package managers like brew. These get you started quickly. But they forego the learning experience and, as most developers report, can become difficult to manage.
macOS runs atop UNIX. Most UNIX software installs easily on macOS. In Additional, Apache and PHP come preinstalled with macOS. So to create a local web server, all you need to do is configure Apache and install MySQL.
Running Commands
First, open the Terminal app and switch to the root user so you can run the commands in this post without any permission issues:
Enable Apache on macOS
Verify It works! by accessing http://localhost
Enable PHP for Apache
First, make a backup of the default Apache configuration. This is good practice and serves as a comparison against future versions of macOS.
Now edit the Apache configuration. Feel free to use a different editor if you are not familiar with vi.
Uncomment the following line (remove #):
Restart Apache:
You can verify PHP is enabled by creating a phpinfo() page in your DocumentRoot.
The default DocumentRoot for macOS Catalina is /Library/WebServer/Documents. You can verify this from your Apache configuration.
Now create the phpinfo() page in your DocumentRoot:
Verify PHP by accessing http://localhost/phpinfo.php
Install MySQL on macOS Catalina
Download and install the latest MySQL generally available release DMG for macOS. MySQL 8 is the latest version. But older versions are available if you need to support older applications.
When the install completes it will provide you with a temporary password. Copy this password before closing the installer. You will use it again in a few steps.
The README suggests creating aliases for mysql and mysqladmin. However there are other commands that are helpful such as mysqldump. Instead, you can update your path to include /usr/local/mysql/bin.
Note: You will need to open a new Terminal window or run the command above for your path to update.
Finally, you should run mysql_secure_installation. While this isn't necessary, it's good practice to secure your database. This is also where you can change that nasty temporary password to something more manageable for local development.
Connect PHP and MySQL
You need to ensure PHP and MySQL can communicate with one another. There are several options to do so. I like the following as it doesn't require changing lots of configuration:
Additional Configuration (optional)
The default configuration for Apache 2.4 on macOS seemed pretty lean. For example, common modules like mod_rewrite were disabled. You may consider enabling this now to avoid forgetting they are disabled in the future.
I edited my Apache Configuration:
Mysql 5.6 Mac Dmg Download
I uncommented the following lines (remove #):
If you develop multiple projects and would like each to have a unique url, you can configure Apache VirtualHosts for macOS.
If you would like to install PHPMyAdmin, return to my original post on installing Apache, PHP, and MySQL on macOS.
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MySQL version 5.6.14 is available for download for OSX, a double click and install is available named Mac OS X ver. 10.7 (x86, 64-bit), DMG Archive. (Don’t worry about the 10.7 naming, Works fine in OSX 10.9 and OSX 10.8)
Stop the MySQL Server
Download and Launch the DMG
There is no upgrade option in the installer and you are presented with the 3 installations:
You need to install all the three installers.
Control/Right click the mysql-5.6…pkg to avoid the security GateKeeper. Follow the installation processes.
Location of MySQL 5.6 Data
MySQL data and files will be stored at:
and an ‘mysql’ directory alias is also created that points to the same location
which points to
Your previous installation is maintained and will be filed in the same location with the appropraite version you were using, like so:
What needs to be done is to migrate the database and tables to the new version.
Migrate Databases
The key directory from the previous instance that needs to be copied is :
So in this instance the previous mysql version was 5.5.13 – rename the new data directory and copy in the old one and fix file ownership to MySQL:
Change Name of newer data directory
Copy Old Databases into new location
Mac Mysql Download
Set Correct Ownership to MySQL
Start MySQL and Repair
Now we need to start the MySQL database and run a repair/upgrade tool on the older databases
Run the Upgrade Tool
If you get errors on the first run, run the command again
Restart MySQL
Check the Version
Set MySQL Password
my.cnf
In the latest version of MySQL 5.6 there is a default ‘my.cnf’ file that the database references that is now stored in:
So if you have made any customisations to the behaviour of MySQL then these will now need to be added in the new my.cnf file and make a copy to /etc so any global changes will be read in when MySQL is launched.