The Question: How do I get the installer for MySQL on OS X?

The sort Answer: Download the DMG file, run the install. Open System Preferences and click the "Start MySQL Server" button to start it. DONE. (On Leopard, apply the fix to get the System Preferences Pane working).

The Assumptions: We're assuming a newer model Mac Client (not Server) with an Intel based Processor and OS X 10.4.x as well as assuming you'll start off with wanting the Free MySQL Server first.

The Gotchas: If yours is even newer than that, you may have OS X Leopard 10.5.1 which this installer doesn't entirely like. Actually it seems to be mainly an issue with the System Preferences Pane. The MySQL Server may work just fine for you in the Terminal. Read the MySQL on Leopard Fix to get the System Preference Pane working. Also, if you are running OS X Server, then MySQL is already installed, and managing it is beyond the scope of this post.

"MySQL 5.0 Community Server".

Currently this is the name of the Free MySQL Server.

Start by going to the downloads section of MySQL's site.

Now let's pick the Free Community version of the Server. The main differences are support and frequency of releases.

The version we want is for Mac OS X on Intel which will be labeled with (x86) because of the history of 8086, 8088, 286, 386, 486, Pentium, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo.

Click on "Download"
Mac OS X 10.4 (x86) 5.0.51a 60.4M Download | Pick a mirror

Able