2.3.1. MySQL Installation Layout on Microsoft Windows

For MySQL 5.6 on Windows, the default installation directory is C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6. Some Windows users prefer to install in C:\mysql, the directory that formerly was used as the default. However, the layout of the subdirectories remains the same.

All of the files are located within this parent directory, using the structure shown in the following table.

Table 2.4. Default MySQL Installation Layout for Microsoft Windows

Directory	Contents of Directory	Notes
`bin`	Client programs and the mysqld server
`%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\`	Log files, databases (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003)	The Windows system variable `%ALLUSERSPROFILE%` defaults to `C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data`
`%PROGRAMDATA%\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\`	Log files, databases (Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and newer)	The Windows system variable `%PROGRAMDATA%` defaults to `C:\ProgramData`
`examples`	Example programs and scripts
`include`	Include (header) files
`lib`	Libraries
`scripts`	Utility scripts
`share`	Miscellaneous support files, including error messages, character set files, sample configuration files, SQL for databaseinstallation

If you install MySQL using the MySQL Installer, this package creates and sets up the data directory that the installed server will use, and also creates a pristine "template" data directory named data under the installation directory. After an installation has been performed using this package, the template data directory can be copied to set up additional MySQL instances. See Section 5.6, "Running Multiple MySQL Instances on One Machine".