If you install MySQL using a binary tarball distribution on Solaris, you may run into trouble even before you get the MySQL distribution unpacked, as the Solaris tar cannot handle long filenames. This means that you may see errors when you try to unpack MySQL.

If this occurs, you must use GNU tar (gtar) to unpack the distribution. You can find a precompiled copy for Solaris at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/os-solaris.html.

You can install MySQL on Solaris using a binary package in PKG format instead of the binary tarball distribution. Before installing using the binary PKG format, you should create the mysql user and group, for example:

groupadd mysql
useradd -g mysql mysql

Some basic PKG-handling commands follow:

For additional information about installing MySQL on Solaris, see Section 2.13.3, “Solaris Notes”.