If fiddling with the database from the MySQL command line does not make you feel comfortable, you can use one of the Web Installers for PHP-Nuke available for your version, in the form of the nukesql.php script. This file will install all required database tables for a fresh installation of PHP-Nuke. It works a follows:
Simply enter your database login information in config.php (see Section 3.7), upload all PHP-Nuke files (Section 3.2.2), then upload this file to PHP-Nuke's root directory and point your browser to it (e.g. http://yoursite.com/nukesql.php).
nukesql.php proceeds in an interactive way to populate the database tables and test your settings in config.php.
Some of its features:
Checks that you are not using the default $sitekey (Figure 23-2).
Lists existing database tables if any.
Installs tables on a empty database.
Replaces existing tables with new ones.
Creates duplicate tables for a second nuke site using one database by using a different prefix in config.php (see also Section 3.7.1).
Will help you troubleshoot installation by testing connection to the MySQL server and selection of database (see also Section 3.9.1).