Upgrading MySQL do's and don'ts

[flashdeveloper]

I am upgrading the MySQL on a production server and do not want to destroy the existing tables, startup files, PATH info, etc.

Am I correct in assuming that if you compile a fresh 'mysqld' you can just copy it over the existing one, without changing anything else? For this example, lets assume that I am moving from one minor revision to another (3.23.27 to 3.23.55), and I am NOT trying to go from 3.23.x to 4.x or MAX.

Doesn't the 'my.cnf' file offer this kind of flexibility? After all, it allows the data directory to be moved, as well as the socket file right?

Since I do not want to interupt the operation of the production build, I have compiled MySQL to /usr/local/mysql, while the previous install resides in /usr/bin. If all goes well, I can do "make install" without over-writing anything from the previous install, correct?

So, after doing "make install" and copying the /usr/local/mysql/bin/* over the existing files in /usr/bin/, restarting the MySQL server should yeild the desired results. True?

Please correct me if I have made an incorrect assumption here.

[stolzyboy]

read this

[flashdeveloper]

While that link is indeed helpful, it doesn't really address my question completely. To be more specific, I am trying not to inadvertantly over-write any files in the previous install.

Being concerned that "make install" will wipe out something that I have not had the foresight to back up or rename.

The link does clarify my point that you CAN simply over-write the mysqld binary with a newer binary, although there are some minor caveats. Its also important to note that the my.cnf must explicitly point to the datadir and the socket file path, if you do not set those values at compile time.