Some steps are required to get the MySQL database system running.
First, make sure you have the MySQL server daemon running. Check under /etc/rc.d/, or run Linuxconf
On RedHat 7.0, I found a subtle error in the MySQL install. Run this command as root to fix it:
#chmod 755 /var/lib/mysql
You must now log in to the MySQL server and set up a root password:
#mysql -uroot mysql
mysqlUPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password')
WHERE user='root';
mysqlFLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysqlquit
MySQL is now ready to run.