Setting up the database (MySQL)

Step 1: Download and install MySQL

If you have an existing MySQL instance that you wish to use, skip ahead to Step 2.

Download and install a supported version of MySQL. To verify that MySQL is running, type mysql -u root at a command line. You should see something like this:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 5
Server version: 8.0.30 MySQL Community Server - GPL

If the command is not recognized, either navigate to the MySQL bin directory and try again or add the MySQL bin directory to your $PATH).

Step 2: Edit your MySQL configuration file

Edit the my.ini (Windows) or my.cnf (Linux/*nix) file located in your MySQL environment and change or add the following variables under the [mysqld] section:

max_allowed_packet=16M
key_buffer_size=16M

Note: these are the minimum required settings. If they are already set to something higher, you can keep the original values.

For additional information regarding these configuration files, please reference MySQL's documentation.

After these changes have been made, you must restart MySQL in order for them to take effect.

Step 3: Import the Cascade CMS database

From a command line, open a MySQL prompt and execute the following commands (replacing 'cascade' with the database name of your choice):

CREATE DATABASE `cascade`;
ALTER DATABASE `cascade` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb3 COLLATE utf8mb3_unicode_ci; 
exit

Exit the MySQL prompt.

Download and unzip the default Cascade CMS database.

Import the database by executing a command like the following:

mysql -u root -p --default-character-set=utf8mb3 cascade < \path\to\file\cascade.sql

where 'cascade' is the name of your new database and '\path\to\file\cascade.sql' is the full directory path to the Cascade CMS database file.

Your MySQL database is now configured and ready to be used by Cascade CMS.