1. Go to sql.mit.edu, peruse the site as well as the SQL questions in the scripts FAQ, then click on the sign-up link.
2. Login in via your SQL password or your MIT certs.
3. Create a database. The interface will force it to be of the form <username>+<database name>. Note that you are limited to 5 databases and 100 MB of data. If you find yourself running out of room, contact the 6.470 staff so we can work something out.

You have at least two choices for interacting with your database:

• Use the phpMyAdmin interface. Log in with your username and SQL password. You can examine, add, change, and drop tables from this interface as well as add and delete rows in your tables.
• Get yourself to a mysql prompt and make changes from the command line.

The latter suggestion may require more work but is generally more efficient for users comfortable with the technology because you're not navigating a clunky web interface.

To get yourself to a mysql prompt, do one of the following:

• Sit down at an Athena terminal.
  1. Enter add mysql to add the mysql locker so you can use the mysql software
  2. Connect to the sql.mit.edu server with
     mysql -h sql.mit.edu -u <username> -p
     You'll be prompted for your SQL password.
• Be on a machine that has some kind of terminal. Linux has a terminal, Mac OS X has Terminal.app which you can find with Spotlight or in Applications > Utilities, and on Windows you may have to download an SSH client like Putty.
  1. SSH to some public Athena machine, like linerva.mit.edu, which is a public Linux dialup maintained by SIPB. From a terminal enter:
     ssh <username>@linerva.mit.edu
     and supply your Athena password when prompted. If you're using Putty or another SSH client supply your username and linerva.mit.edu as the remote host.
  2. You're now looking at an Athena prompt as if you were sitting physically at an Athena terminal. Go through steps 1 and 2 for the "Sit down at an Athena terminal" case.

Once you're at the mysql prompt you need to switch to the database that you are using:
mysql> use <username>+<database name>
You're now read to manipulate your database.

• mysql> show tables; will give you a list of the tables in this databse
• mysql> desc <tablename> will give the schema for a particular table
• CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, and DELETE TABLE
• mysql> SELECT * FROM <tablename> LIMIT 10 is a quick way to see and sanity check some of the rows in a table
• mysql> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM <tablename> is a quick way to get the number of rows in a table