Select a fixed number of random records from a MySQL table?

For random records, you can use rand() method. To set the number of records, use the LIMIT −

select *from yourTableName order by rand() limit numberOfRecords;

Let us first create a table −

mysql> create table DemoTable
   -> (
   -> LastName varchar(100)
   -> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.51 sec)

Insert some records in the table using insert command −

mysql> insert into DemoTable values('Brown');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)

mysql> insert into DemoTable values('Smith');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.13 sec)

mysql> insert into DemoTable values('Taylor');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.10 sec)

mysql> insert into DemoTable values('Miller');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.15 sec)

mysql> insert into DemoTable values('Johnson');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement −

mysql> select *from DemoTable;

Output

This will produce the following output −

+----------+
| LastName |
+----------+
| Brown    |
| Smith    |
| Taylor   |
| Miller   |
| Johnson  |
+----------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Following is the query to select fixed number of random records −

mysql> select *from DemoTable order by rand() limit 4;

Output

This will produce the following output −

+----------+
| LastName |
+----------+
| Brown    |
| Miller   |
| Johnson  |
| Taylor   |
+----------+
4 rows in set (0.03 sec)