Quick Start: MySQL Single

Get a fully functional MySQL 8.4 instance running on your laptop in under 2 minutes — no root access, no Docker, no permanent changes to your system.

Prerequisites

• dbdeployer installed (Installation guide)
• Internet access to download the MySQL binary

1. Download and unpack MySQL 8.4

Option A — Use dbdeployer’s built-in download:

dbdeployer downloads get-by-version 8.4
dbdeployer unpack mysql-8.4.8-*.tar.xz

The first command downloads the tarball to the current directory. The second extracts the binaries into ~/opt/mysql/8.4.8/. Use the actual filename shown by the download.

Option B — Download manually from dev.mysql.com:

# Example for Linux x86_64:
curl -LO https://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-8.4/mysql-8.4.8-linux-glibc2.17-x86_64.tar.xz
dbdeployer unpack mysql-8.4.8-linux-glibc2.17-x86_64.tar.xz

2. Deploy a single sandbox

dbdeployer deploy single 8.4.8

Expected output:

Database installed in $HOME/sandboxes/msb_8_4_8

The sandbox starts automatically.

3. Connect and run a query

~/sandboxes/msb_8_4_8/use

You are now inside the MySQL shell. Try a quick query:

SELECT VERSION();
SHOW DATABASES;
EXIT;

4. Clean up

dbdeployer delete msb_8_4_8

This stops the server and removes all sandbox files. Your MySQL binary in ~/opt/mysql/ is untouched.

What’s next?

• Deploying a single sandbox — ports, passwords, options
• Managing sandboxes — start, stop, restart
• Quick Start: MySQL Replication