Tutorial: Spinning up Opensim - Download (part 2)

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In part 2 of this tutorial, we will download all the necessary components to setup and run a virtual world server all for free. We will be using the Opensim server on Windows Vista operating system with a MySQL database.

Step 1 - Preparing the List

You will need to download four things for this project:

1. MySQL Community Edition
2. MySQL GUI Tools (optional if you know MySQL well, recommended if you don’t)
3. An Opensim Build
4. A Second Life client (Any Linden Lab client should work)

Step 2 - Download MySQL

Ever since MySQL went commerical, the community tools are a bit obscurly located IMO and of course may move again by the time you read this. Go to http://www.mysql.com. Navigate to “Downloads” then to “MySQL Community Server”, then “Community Downloads”

For this tutorial, I used the MySQL 5.0 Community Server GA edition. Pick “Windows” assuming you are following along for a Vista install. What you want now is Windows Essential (x86). When I downloaded this, I was using MySQL 5.0.51b.

Select “Pick a Mirror”. At this point you are asked to register, very sneaky! Look below all the registration graphics and you’ll find a link “No thanks, just take me to the downloads!”. Select this and you’re off and running. Select HTTP next two a mirror site close to you for best speed. Save the file to a download location on your PC.

Step 3 - Download MySQL GUI Tools

Next you want the GUI tools, these are optional and if you know how to use the MySQL command line interface feel free to skip this step. However, if you are new to MySQL, then I would suggest downloading these tools. The GUI Administrator will be used in this tutorial to setup the database.

Navigate back to MySQL 5.0 Downloads page. On the left hand nav, you’ll see the various versions of the MySQL Community Server. Look below these and you’ll see a link that says “GUI Tools”. Click on this and then select MySQL Administrator. Scroll down a little bit and you’ll find the Windows (x86) version with the same “Pick a Mirror” link. I used version 5.0-r12.

Follow the same download procedure you did for MySQL.

Step 4 - Download Opensim Server Build

Head over to the Opensim project web site. Select “Downloads” and mostly ignore the instructions as they are geared toward someone who is planning to get the source code and build the project.

Scroll down a bit and select the offical builds, ZIP file. As I wrote this I picked Opensim 0.5.8 and just yesterday it was 0.5.5 so things are moving quickly on this project.

Step 5 - Download A Second Life Viewer

If you already have the Second LIfe client installed on your machine you don’t need to do anything. If you’ve never used Second Life before, than you may want to do so before proceeding with this project. To get the latest Second Life viewer go here. This tutorial assumes we are installing all components on one Vista laptop so get the Windows version.

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