Installing MySQL

But you don't have a database server installed on your machine.

Here are the instructions for Ubuntu 13.04.

laravel:~$ sudo debconf-set-selections <<< \
> 'mysql-server mysql-server/root_password password root'
laravel:~$ sudo debconf-set-selections <<< \
> 'mysql-server mysql-server/root_password_again password root'
laravel:~$ sudo apt-get install -y php5-mysql mysql-server
laravel:~$ cat << EOF | sudo tee -a /etc/mysql/conf.d/default_engine.cnf
> [mysqld]
> default-storage-engine = MyISAM
EOF
laravel:~$ sudo service mysql restart

This configures MySQL with the root user having a password of root. The default storage engine is set to MyISAM.

Here's a breakdown of the steps above:

Lines 1 - 4

The first four lines of the above instructions issue two Ubuntu specific commands to skip the prompt for the root password when MySQL is installed.

Line 5

This line installs MySQL and the PHP drivers

Lines 6 - 9

This creates a new configuration file for MySQL to set the default storage engine to MyISAM. Otherwise, the default is to use InnoDB. If you prefer InnoDB then skip this step.

Line 10

Restart MySQL to take the configuration change into account.

See Also

The Setting up the MySQL Database Driver recipe.