# Exercise 201.1.1b: Deploying a Test Cluster in a Single-instance (macOS/Linux) Environment as a Practice Environment

## Prerequisites
+ Internet connection.
+ One of pre-installed database clients `mycli`, `mysql`, or `MySQL Workbench`:
  + [mycli](https://www.mycli.net/)
  + [mysql client](https://cn.bing.com/search?q=MacOS+mysql+client+%E5%AE%89%E8%A3%85)
  + [MySQL Workbench - Note Select version: 6.3.10, the page defaults to the latest version](https://downloads.mysql.com/archives/workbench/)


1. Open the terminal (Linux: Go to Terminal and macOS: Open Terminal.app), then download and install the `tiup` tool by executing the following command. Note that `$` is the terminal prompt, and the common one may be `%`.
  ```
  $ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://tiup-mirrors.pingcap.com/install.sh | sh
  $ export PATH=~/.tiup/bin:$PATH
  ```

2. Start the cluster (specify the number of instances for each component) and keep the session window open.
```
$ tiup playground v6.0.0 --tag classroom --db 3 --pd 3 --kv 3 --tiflash 1
```

3. Open another terminal and execute the following command to access the TiDB database using the database client. The `"mysql> "` prompt appears.
```
$ mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 4000 -uroot
```

Alternatively, you can use `mycli`:
```
mycli mysql://root@<tidb_cloud_server_dns_name>:4000
```     

4. Get the connection id, database version, and current time.
```
select connection_id(), tidb_version(), now();
```

5. Log out of the database session (if necessary).
```
exit
```

6. Go back to the first terminal and press the `ctrl-c` key to stop the test cluster (do not press `ctrl-c` continuously, once is enough, wait patiently for the terminal prompt to appear, such as `$` or `%`).

7. Start the cluster again.
```
$ tiup playground --tag classroom --db 2 --pd 3 --kv 3 --tiflash 1
```