MySQL

See Database Management Systems.

New installations of the Open Dental Trial Version use MariaDB. Existing Open Dental installations can continue to use MySQL or upgrade to MariaDB.

The Open Dental database runs on MySQL which is a very robust and reliable database management system with extensive features and millions of installations worldwide.

MySQL versions:

General Overview

How to Determine if MySQL is Installed

MySQL should be installed on the server. There are two ways to ensure MySQL is installed:

  1. On the server, go to Services. See if the MySQL service is listed.
  2. On the server, go to Add or Remove programs. See if an existing installation of MySQL is listed.

How to Determine if MySQL is Running

The MySQL server runs as a service on one computer. To easily determine if MySQL is running, use the management console.

  1. Right-click on Computer and click Manage.
  2. Open Services and Applications.
  3. Open Services. These are all the programs (services) that are running in the background without a user interface. MySQL would show as started.

How to Determine the current MySQL Version

  1. On the server, from Windows, open Services.
  2. Navigate to the MySQL service, then right-click to view properties.
  3. In the Path to Executable, find the path to mysqld.exe. (Typically, C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\bin\mysqld.exe)
  4. Open that path, then right-click on mysqld.exe and select properties.
  5. In the details tab, note the version.

How to Start/Stop the MySQL Service

Option 1:

  1. From Windows, run CMD as an administrator.
  2. To start the MySQL service, type net start mysql.
  3. To stop the MySQL service, type net stop mysql.

Option 2:

  1. From Windows, open Services.
  2. Find MySQL in the list.
  3. Click Start or Stop.

Option 3:

  1. Open the Service Manager.
  2. Double-click MySQL from the list.
  3. Click Start or Stop.

To access the data in the MySQL database, use the table viewer in User Query.