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Howto Install MySQL on Linux

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Most of the Linux distro comes with MySQL.  If you want use MySQL, my recommendation is that you download the latest version of MySQL and install it yourself. Later you can upgrade it to the latest version when it becomes available. In this article, I will explain how to install the latest free community edition of MySQL on Linux platform.

1. Download the latest stable relase of MySQL

Download mySQL from mysql.com .  Please download the community edition of MySQL for your appropriate Linux platform. I downloaded the “Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 RPM (x86)”. Make sure to download MySQL Server, Client and “Headers and libraries” from the download page.

  • MySQL-client-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm
  • MySQL-server-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm
  • MySQL-devel-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm

2. Remove the existing default MySQL that came with the Linux distro

Do not perform this on an system where the MySQL database is getting used by some application.

[local-host]# rpm -qa | grep -i mysql
mysql-5.0.22-2.1.0.1
mysqlclient10-3.23.58-4.RHEL4.1

[local-host]# rpm -e mysql --nodeps
warning: /etc/my.cnf saved as /etc/my.cnf.rpmsave
[local-host]# rpm -e mysqlclient10

3. Install the downloaded MySQL package

Install the MySQL Server and Client packages as shown below.

[local-host]# rpm -ivh MySQL-server-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm MySQL-client-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
1:MySQL-client-community ########################################### [ 50%]
2:MySQL-server-community ########################################### [100%]

This will also display the following output and start the MySQL daemon automatically.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SET A PASSWORD FOR THE MySQL root USER !
To do so, start the server, then issue the following commands:
/usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'new-password'
/usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root -h medica2 password 'new-password'

Alternatively you can run:
/usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation
which will also give you the option of removing the test
databases and anonymous user created by default.  This is
strongly recommended for production servers.
See the manual for more instructions.
Please report any problems with the /usr/bin/mysqlbug script!
The latest information about MySQL is available at http://www.mysql.com/
Support MySQL by buying support/licenses from http://shop.mysql.com/

Starting MySQL.[  OK  ]
Giving mysqld 2 seconds to start

Install the “Header and Libraries” that are part of the MySQL-devel packages.

[local-host]# rpm -ivh MySQL-devel-community-5.1.25-0.rhel5.i386.rpm
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
1:MySQL-devel-community  ########################################### [100%]

Note: When I was compiling PHP with MySQL option from source on the Linux system, it failed with the following error. Installing the MySQL-devel-community package fixed this problem in installing PHP from source.

configure: error: Cannot find MySQL header files under yes.
Note that the MySQL client library is not bundled anymore!

4.  Perform post-install security activities on MySQL.

At a bare minimum you should set a password for the root user as shown below:

[local-user]# /usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'My2Secure$Password'

The best option is to run the mysql_secure_installation script that will take care of all the typical security related items on the MySQL as shown below. On a high level this does the following items:

  • Change the root password
  • Remove the anonymous user
  • Disallow root login from remote machines
  • Remove the default sample test database
[local-host]# /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation

NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MySQL
SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE!  PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!
In order to log into MySQL to secure it, we'll need the current
password for the root user.  If you've just installed MySQL, and
you haven't set the root password yet, the password will be blank,
so you should just press enter here.

Enter current password for root (enter for none):
OK, successfully used password, moving on...

Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MySQL
root user without the proper authorisation.
You already have a root password set, so you can safely answer 'n'.
Change the root password? [Y/n] Y
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
By default, a MySQL installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone
to log into MySQL without having to have a user account created for
them.  This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation
go a bit smoother.  You should remove them before moving into a
production environment.
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] Y
... Success!
Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'.  This
ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network.
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] Y
... Success!
By default, MySQL comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can
access.  This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed
before moving into a production environment.
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] Y
- Dropping test database...
... Success!
- Removing privileges on test database...
... Success!
Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far
will take effect immediately.
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] Y
... Success!
Cleaning up...
All done!  If you've completed all of the above steps, your MySQL
installation should now be secure.
Thanks for using MySQL!

5.  Verify the MySQL installation:

You can check the MySQL installed version by performing mysql -V as shown below:

[local-host]# mysql -V
mysql  Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.25-rc, for redhat-linux-gnu (i686) using readline 5.1

Connect to the MySQL database using the root user and make sure the connection is successfull.

[local-host]# mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 13
Server version: 5.1.25-rc-community MySQL Community Server (GPL)

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

Follows the steps below to stop and start MySQL

[local-host]# service mysql status
MySQL running (12588)                                      [  OK  ]
[local-host]# service mysql stop
Shutting down MySQL.                                       [  OK  ]
[local-host]# service mysql start
Starting MySQL.                                            [  OK  ]
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Comments on this entry are closed.

  • narendra.s.v July 7, 2008, 1:10 am

    wow thanks a lot coz we are soon getting a Linux host 😀

  • Siddharth July 12, 2008, 10:44 pm

    lotta thx for for this 😉
    although I will install my sql on windows but I am sure this can help me 😛

  • Gabriel October 28, 2008, 11:17 am

    Thanks, this guide is updated has been very usefull !!

  • Anjum January 9, 2009, 3:03 am

    Tahnkx for so much clear view of installing mysql on linux.
    It answered me many quetion about installation.i have not tried but i near future um gonna do this and aill let u know about hte result

  • Swathi February 8, 2009, 9:46 pm

    Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. It would be helpful to add the expected exceptions and possible fixes too.
    I had an issue with “Starting MySQL..Manager of pid-file quit without updating file.[Falure]”
    I searched a lot in the internet and finally ended up at the solution.
    starting “sudo /bin/sh /etc/init.d/mysql start” fixed the issue.
    Hope this helps others who face the same issue on linux.

  • kenny April 2, 2009, 10:09 pm

    thanks Swathi. that helped me

  • Ravi September 30, 2009, 3:41 am

    Hi,
    Its good to see the MySQL 5x install procedure using RPMs. But I have a specific requirement to be implemented and I can’t see how to do that.
    Instead of the default “mysql” user and group we need to create a client specific user who owns the mysql installation. How can I specify that, assuming that I create the user and group before starting installation with the RPM.

    Thanks

    ravi

  • wessy December 10, 2009, 4:20 am

    great. thanks

  • Jan February 14, 2010, 4:38 am

    man i messed up the server vut you saved me, i’ve been looking for this solution for a couple of days.. thanks man

  • Ronald June 13, 2010, 2:46 am

    Hi I followed your guide I am having trouble enabling remote connection to mysql can you please add it to your guide? Thank you in advance.

  • suji September 28, 2010, 5:28 am

    How install php in linux ?

  • gautam November 18, 2010, 12:14 am

    thank you .
    it was very helpful.

  • Anil December 12, 2010, 1:08 am

    Grt article!
    very helpful

  • arturo garcia December 12, 2010, 9:24 pm

    thank you very much, this is the best guide I’ve found

  • martin January 12, 2011, 6:32 pm

    INSTALLING MYSQL WITHOUT ACCESS TO ROOT ACCOUNT:

    1. Download MySQL Community Server 5.5.8 Linux – Generic Compressed TAR Archive
    2. Unpack it. For example to: /home/martin/mysql
    3. Create my.cnf file in your home directory. File contains:

    [server]
    user=martin
    basedir=/home/martin/mysql
    datadir=/home/martin/sql_data
    socket=/home/martin/socket
    port=3666

    4. Go to /home/martin/mysql directory and execute:

    ./scripts/mysql_install_db –defaults-file=~/my.cnf –user=martin –basedir=/home/martin/mysql –datadir=/home/martin/sql_data –socket=/home/martin/socket

    –defaults-file must be the first paremeter! Otherwise it won’t work. It’s mysql bug.

    5. Your mysql server is ready. Start it with command:

    ./bin/mysqld_safe –defaults-file=~/my.cnf &

    6. Connecting to server:

    mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3666 -u root -p (using tcp)
    or
    mysql –socket=/home/martin/socket -u root -p (using unix socket)

    7. Shutting down server:

    mysqladmin -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3666 -u root shutdown(using tcp)
    or
    mysqladmin –socket=/home/martin/socket -u root shutdown (using unix socket)

  • jen February 11, 2011, 12:34 am

    wow this article really helped but i did all my installation with , how to change it to mysql user

  • siros April 30, 2011, 5:47 pm

    Thank you so much great article.

    my first source installation.

  • santosh May 22, 2011, 8:02 am

    thank u so much with helpful these document

  • Al-Imran Bin Al-Awad June 8, 2011, 3:58 pm

    Great article for a newbie like me. Thanks Sir right from UAE

  • Peri September 13, 2011, 5:31 am

    Hi,

    I have successfully installed mysql in my linux machine but can any one know , why after installing all the 3 rpms (client/server/devel) the version is reflected with “unknown -linux” instead of red-hat
    rpm’s used for my installation below.

    MySQL-devel-community-5.1.58-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
    MySQL-server-community-5.1.58-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm
    MySQL-client-community-5.1.58-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm

    [root@localhost peri]# mysql -V
    mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.58, for unknown-linux-gnu (x86_64) using readline 5.1

  • Avinash Bhageloe October 28, 2011, 7:21 pm

    Thanx a lot. This information helpt me alot 🙂

    Regards,
    Avinash Bhageloe

  • mustaq shah owaisi November 24, 2011, 1:10 am

    thanks for writing in easy format

  • marcos February 3, 2012, 6:34 am

    Very good…. ! I’m a newbie on MySQL.. and it helped me in installtion.

    Thanks a TON

  • sharad May 23, 2012, 11:01 am

    I am trying to install a software which required MySQL-server, MySQL-client installed on the server so now I want to install MySQL-server and MySQL-client using rpm files “MySQL-server-5.5.17-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm” and “MySQL-client-5.5.17-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm”.

    I have installed MySQL-client but when I try to run mysql-server

    *rpm -i MySQL-server-5.5.17-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm*

    it gives me error:

    *error: Failed dependencies:
    MySQL conflict with mysql-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6.x86_64
    MySQL conflict with mysql-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6.i386
    MySQL conflict with mysql-server-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6.x86_64*

    So how can i solve this problem?

  • zneteng July 11, 2012, 4:10 pm

    sharad,

    think you can try rpm -e to remove old ones, or use “rpm -Uvh” to update the rpm

  • amit August 21, 2012, 4:43 am

    Thanks ,

    This tutorial is very good and working……….
    .One thing i would like to ask is it necessary to install
    MySQL-client-community-5.1.58-1.rhel5.x86_64.rpm .

  • Manjunath September 10, 2012, 11:58 pm

    Thanks a lot.
    It helped me a lot in installation of mysql on linux server.

  • Narender Reddy October 18, 2012, 5:31 am

    Hi,

    Greate document,Detail explanation of installtion steps and configuration steps

    Thank you very much..

  • neha October 20, 2012, 9:21 am

    in wndow 7 i install jomlla 1.5 in wamp server i change local host to ip address by now i am not able to open my page neither ip address nor local host anyone can help me.

    hay i have red hat i want to install php my admin for my web server can u give me the installation manual step by step and what should be the other requirment pl give me manual i tried to install but i can not

  • Narendar January 22, 2013, 2:03 am

    Thank you so much great article

  • Mujeeb January 24, 2013, 1:54 am

    Thank you for this, detaled explanation of instalation step by step

  • Gaurav Khinchi April 4, 2013, 4:45 am

    I am having following problems while installing my sql server at linux…. can you pls help me out….

    -bash-4.1$ rpm -ivh /login/sg216750/softwaresinstallables/MYSQLServer\ For\ Linux/MySQL-server-5.5.30-1.linux2.6.i386.rpm
    error: Failed dependencies:
    libaio.so.1 is needed by MySQL-server-5.5.30-1.linux2.6.i386
    libaio.so.1(LIBAIO_0.1) is needed by MySQL-server-5.5.30-1.linux2.6.i386
    libaio.so.1(LIBAIO_0.4) is needed by MySQL-server-5.5.30-1.linux2.6.i386
    -bash-4.1$

  • Ashish June 25, 2013, 1:03 am

    When I install the mysql from “RPM” than I cant find the “my.cnf” file location…..

    So where can I find it?

    My OS is CentOS

    I show in “/etc” but there wasnt…

    Please guide me

  • gio August 16, 2013, 9:08 am

    Hello,
    I installed mysql 5.6.11 (client and server) on my linux (Red Hat Linux 5). My issue is that the rpm installed everything on var/lib/mysql/dbname I want to install it under home/database/mysql/dbname.

    how can I either move it to another spor, or if I uninstalle it, how do I go about installing it in the folder I want? Any help is greatly appreciated…thanks!!

  • Ben October 24, 2013, 12:04 pm

    Hello, Is it possible to install both 32bit and 64bit mysql on the same system and run them simultaneously? I have a linux system with 32bit Mysql installed. This is live and cannot be touched. I have a user that needs to import a database that is in excess of 30GB in size. I need to install a parallel installation of mysql in the 64bit version to handle the size of the database.

  • Chethan December 8, 2013, 2:01 am

    Enter current password for root (enter for none):
    ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock’ (2)

    –>I get this error when executing
    # /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation

    –>and in /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock, mysql.sock file is missing, could not find it anywhere under /
    I’m using RHEL 6
    Please Help!!

  • satyendra June 19, 2014, 2:13 am

    thanks for material guys.

  • Deepak Abraham December 22, 2015, 4:25 am

    Thanks a lot. It worked well…