Question: How do I tell which version of MySQL that I'm using?

Answer: The easiest way is to start the mysql command-line utility and then issue one of the following queries:

select version; 

or

show variables like 'version'; 

While both commands return single-record answers, the first returns a single field showing the current version while the second returns a two column table. The first column shows the name of the selected variable (version) and the second holds the version number itself.