This is a record of the steps I performed to enable replication between MySQL5.0.77 on RHEL and 5.5.25 on WindowsXP.
1. ensure two-way connectivity with pings.
2. make mysql on windows easier to work with by copying mysql.exe and mysqldump.exe to c:windowssystem32.
3. On the Replication-Master (RHEL) I made a copy of /etc/my.cnf then amended the original using VI adding the lines
“log-bin=mysql-bin” and “server-id=1” within the [mysqld] section.
I rebooted and tested that binary-logging was ‘on’ with the command “show variables like ‘log_bin'”.
4. On the WindowsXP / 5.5 / Slave machine I copied then amended the file “c:program filesmysqlmysql server 5.5my-large.ini” (note: I chose ~large.ini as my machine had 512mb memory).
server-id=2
master-host=169.254.0.17
master-user=repuser
master-password=password
I then confirmed all other conflicting settings were commented out (EG: server-id=1) and sdaved the file.