InnoDB with MySQL 5.1

Before MySQL 5.1, the InnoDB storage engine was included by default when you compiled the sources. Since MySQL 5.1, it is necessary to set the storage engines to compile with MySQL with the parameter "--with-plugins":

--with-plugins=PLUGIN[[[,PLUGIN..]]]
                        Plugins to include in mysqld. (default is: none)
                        Must be a configuration name or a comma separated
                        list of plugins.
                        Available configurations are: none max max-no-ndb
                        all.
                        Available plugins are: partition daemon_example
                        ftexample archive blackhole csv example federated
                        heap ibmdb2i innobase myisam myisammrg ndbcluster.

My usage is generally limited to MyISAM (mandatorily included) and InnoDB, therefor I use this compilation parameter:

./configure --with-plugins=innobase

The list of plugins and their specificities are available through the ./configure --help command. Plugins with "Supports build" set at "dynamic" can be loaded at run-time, without having to compile them with MySQL, using the next SQL statement: INSTALL PLUGIN. The other plugins set at "static" have to be compiled with MySQL as explained previously.