1) Another important point is that the installer should include an Application Manifest for compability with Windows "Program Compatibility Assistant" (PCA) of recent Windows versions. If not recent Windows will popup error messages when installing.

2) What here has been decribed as related to 'Vista' should be 'Vista and higher'.  It also applies to Win2008, Win7 and Win2008r2. Do not forget those. Win7 will be the dominant Windows variant in a few months I believe (and it deserves it as it is much better than both XP and Vista). Nobody should develop for Windows on 2K/XP/2003 these days. Get a copy of Win7 64 bit and use it.
.
3) I can see that quite a lot of comments came here.  I had no time to study in detail.  I will try in the weekend.
.
4) 64 bit server for Windows will very soon be more important than 32 bit server I think (at least for production environments). Also note that MySQL only distribute 'snapshots' from "MySQL labs" as 64 bit.  32 bit Windows is dead as regards new systems (with the possible exception of netbooks - I do not know if the CPUs used for those are 64 bit or not).
.
Peter
Webyog

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 10:41, Sergey Petrunya <psergey@askmonty.org> wrote:
Hi!

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:44:01AM +0200, Peter Laursen wrote:
> The billion dollar question is: what options should a config wizard
> (ideally) provide?
> .
> base configuration (memory requirements, #of_connections assumed): use:
> mini, midi, medium. large, huge --template
> default storage engine: MyISAM, Maria, XtraDB, PBXT
> default charset: latin1, utf8, custom
> enable slow log: yes|no
> enable general log: yes|no
> enable query cache: yes|no
> .. what else is important?
Parameters that would allow to install multiple servers side-by side:
port to listen on, named pipe name, perhaps windows service name.
Binary log should probably always be enabled.

I don't think work on installer should include development of a configurator
that will cover all options. Imo, the goals of install-time configurator should
be:

* Allow one to get to runnable setup always. This means ability to specify
 install directory, port number, service name (i.e. allow to change any
 setting that might get into conflict with something).

* Allow to change 'simple' options (e.g. what to use as default storage engine,
 sql_mode, and other stuff that a newcomer might be immediately interested in.

I don't think it makes sense to offer the user to specify options like
query_cache_size - there's hardly anybody who could come up with a meaningful
value at install time. Most users won't know, those who know exactly will
probably prefer to edit the config file over using installer's GUI.

> On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 00:10, Sergey Petrunya <psergey@askmonty.org> wrote:
>
> > Hi!
> >
> > It's time we've started to think of what we need of Windows installer (at
> > the
> > moment we're close to having windows "noinstall" zip archive but have
> > nothing
> > for installable package).
> >
> > I've filed some initial set of ideas and thoughts as MWL#55,
> > http://askmonty.org/worklog/?tid=55. Any comments or input are welcome.
> >
> >
> > ----- Forwarded message from worklog-noreply@askmonty.org -----
> >
> > From: worklog-noreply@askmonty.org
> > To: monty@askmonty.org
> > Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:07:28 +0300 (EEST)
> > Subject: [Maria-developers] Updated (by Psergey): Windows installer for
> >        MariaDB (55)
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >                              WORKLOG TASK
> > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> > TASK...........: Windows installer for MariaDB
> > CREATION DATE..: Wed, 14 Oct 2009, 00:07
> > SUPERVISOR.....: Monty
> > IMPLEMENTOR....:
> > COPIES TO......:
> > CATEGORY.......: Server-RawIdeaBin
> > TASK ID........: 55 (http://askmonty.org/worklog/?tid=55)
> > VERSION........: Server-9.x
> > STATUS.........: Un-Assigned
> > PRIORITY.......: 60
> > WORKED HOURS...: 0
> > ESTIMATE.......: 0 (hours remain)
> > ORIG. ESTIMATE.: 0
> >
> > PROGRESS NOTES:
> >
> > -=-=(Psergey - Wed, 14 Oct 2009, 00:07)=-=-
> > High-Level Specification modified.
> > --- /tmp/wklog.55.old.28205     2009-10-14 00:07:28.000000000 +0300
> > +++ /tmp/wklog.55.new.28205     2009-10-14 00:07:28.000000000 +0300
> > @@ -1 +1,50 @@
> > +Not a spec so far but a list of points to consider:
> > +
> > +1. Installer wishlist (user POV)
> > +--------------------------------
> > +From the user point of view:
> > +
> > +1.1 Step 1: simplest installer
> > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > +An installer package that
> > +- Copies files on installation
> > +- Registers mysqld a service
> > +- Checks if installation directory, MySQL's port, or named pipe are
> > +  busy. If they are, it asks to remove the previous installation first
> > +  and aborts.
> > +- Uninstall procedure (TODO: should that remove the datadir or leave it?)
> > +
> > +1.2 Step 2: upgrades from MySQL
> > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > +- Same as above but with handling of the case where MySQL has been already
> > +  installed:
> > +  - offer to replace MySQL.
> > +  - upgrade the data directory (todo we should sort out if anything/what
> > is
> > +    needed for this).
> > +  - Uninstall MySQL
> > +  - Install MariaDB.
> > +
> > +1.3 Step 3: Configuration wizard
> > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > +- Installer should include configuration wizard that's similar to what
> > MySQL
> > +  installer does.
> > +
> > +1.1 Step 1
> > +~~~~~~~~~~
> > +
> > +2. Installer wishlist (developer POV)
> > +-------------------------------------
> > +* Some "installshield-like" tool that's easy to use (suggestion by Webyog:
> > +  NSIS)
> > +* Installation procedure source should reside in MariaDB source repository
> > +* Installation procedure source file is better to be in human-readable
> > text
> > +  format.
> > +* It should be possible to automate creation of the installer package, in
> > a way
> > +  that can be run from buildbot (e.g. the installer package build process
> > +  should print messages to its stdout)
> > +
> > +* Any suggestions on how can one automatically test the installation
> > package?
> > +  (for example, we'll want to start the installer, install, check that
> > +  installation succeeded, then start the server, run some commands, then
> > +  uninstall. Any ways to achieve that?)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > DESCRIPTION:
> >
> > We need Windows Installer package for MariaDB.
> >
> >
> > HIGH-LEVEL SPECIFICATION:
> >
> >
> >
> > Not a spec so far but a list of points to consider:
> >
> > 1. Installer wishlist (user POV)
> > --------------------------------
> > >From the user point of view:
> >
> > 1.1 Step 1: simplest installer
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > An installer package that
> > - Copies files on installation
> > - Registers mysqld a service
> > - Checks if installation directory, MySQL's port, or named pipe are
> >  busy. If they are, it asks to remove the previous installation first
> >  and aborts.
> > - Uninstall procedure (TODO: should that remove the datadir or leave it?)
> >
> > 1.2 Step 2: upgrades from MySQL
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > - Same as above but with handling of the case where MySQL has been already
> >  installed:
> >  - offer to replace MySQL.
> >  - upgrade the data directory (todo we should sort out if anything/what is
> >    needed for this).
> >  - Uninstall MySQL
> >  - Install MariaDB.
> >
> > 1.3 Step 3: Configuration wizard
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > - Installer should include configuration wizard that's similar to what
> > MySQL
> >  installer does.
> >
> > 1.1 Step 1
> > ~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> > 2. Installer wishlist (developer POV)
> > -------------------------------------
> > * Some "installshield-like" tool that's easy to use (suggestion by Webyog:
> >  NSIS)
> > * Installation procedure source should reside in MariaDB source repository
> > * Installation procedure source file is better to be in human-readable text
> >  format.
> > * It should be possible to automate creation of the installer package, in a
> > way
> >  that can be run from buildbot (e.g. the installer package build process
> >  should print messages to its stdout)
> >
> > * Any suggestions on how can one automatically test the installation
> > package?
> >  (for example, we'll want to start the installer, install, check that
> >  installation succeeded, then start the server, run some commands, then
> >  uninstall. Any ways to achieve that?)
> >
> >
> > ESTIMATED WORK TIME
> >
> > ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > WorkLog (v3.5.9)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~maria-developers
> > Post to     : maria-developers@lists.launchpad.net
> > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~maria-developers
> > More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
> >
> > ----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> > --
> > BR
> >  Sergey
> > --
> > Sergey Petrunia, Software Developer
> > Monty Program AB, http://askmonty.org
> > Blog: http://s.petrunia.net/blog
> >

--
BR
 Sergey
--
Sergey Petrunia, Software Developer
Monty Program AB, http://askmonty.org
Blog: http://s.petrunia.net/blog