Install and setup of mysql on an amazon EC2 Instance.

Amazon RDS costs me quite a bit and I utilize about 1% of its true potential. That's not to say it isn't a great service (it totally is), I just figured I could do it cheaper by running mysql on the same instance as my web server. Might be cheaper, might not, I'll see. It certainly won't be as straightforward as RDS which is super simple.

--setup db
sudo yum install mysql
sudo yum install mysql-server
sudo yum install mysql-devel
sudo chgrp -R mysql /var/lib/mysql
sudo chmod -R 770 /var/lib/mysql
sudo service mysqld start
/usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password yourpasswordhere

Please note, my password is actually not "yourpasswordhere". Neither should yours be ;)
Now we must login to mysql and create the db

mysql -u root -p

mysql> CREATE DATABASE xxxx;
mysql> exit

Again, don't call your db xxxx, unless it's some very hardcore stuff!
Now if you're doing this with Railo you can setup your datasource in railo server admin.
http://xx.xx.xx.xxx/railo-context/admin/server.cfm

That's it, you're all ready to go.

Hats off Sam Starling from whom I figured this out:
http://www.samstarling.co.uk/2010/10/installing-mysql-on-an-ec2-micro-instance/
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if only there was a decent GUI for connecting to mysql and <cough> ms sql. <sigh>