mysql_config not found when installing mysqldb pyt

Question

I am trying to get a Python script to run on the linux server I'm connected to via ssh. The script uses mysqldb. I have all the other components I need, but when I try to install mySQLdb via setuptools like so:,

python setup.py install

I get the following error report related to the mysql_config command.

sh: mysql_config: command not found
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "setup.py", line 15, in <module>
    metadata, options = get_config()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/MySQL-python-1.2.3/setup_posix.py", line 43, in get_config
    libs = mysql_config("libs_r")
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/MySQL-python-1.2.3/setup_posix.py", line 24, in mysql_config
    raise EnvironmentError("%s not found" % (mysql_config.path,))
EnvironmentError: mysql_config not found

Has anyone else encountered this error and if so how did you resolve it/what can I do to successfully install mysqldb?

Answer 1

I fixed this problem with the following steps:

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev
sudo apt-get install python-dev
sudo python setup.py install

Answer 2

I had this issues and solved if by adding a symlink to mysql_config.

I had installed mysql with homebrew and saw this in the output.

Error: The `brew link` step did not complete successfully

Depending on how you got mysql it will be in different places. In my case /usr/local/Cellar/mysql
Once you know where it is you should be able to ma a symbolic link to where python is looking for it. /usr/local/mysql

This worked for me.

ln -s /usr/local/Cellar/mysql/<< VERSION >>/bin/mysql_config   /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config

Answer 3

sudo apt-get install python-mysqldb

Python 2.5? Sounds like you are using a very old version of Ubuntu Server (Hardy 8.04?) - please confirm which Linux version the server uses.

python-mysql search on ubuntu package database

Some additional info:

From the README of mysql-python -

Red Hat Linux .............

MySQL-python is pre-packaged in Red Hat Linux 7.x and newer. This includes Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. You can also build your own RPM packages as described above.

Debian GNU/Linux ................

Packaged as python-mysqldb_::

# apt-get install python-mysqldb

Or use Synaptic.

.. _python-mysqldb: http://packages.debian.org/python-mysqldb

Ubuntu ......

Same as with Debian.

Footnote: If you really are using a server distribution older than Ubuntu 10.04 then you are out of official support, and should upgrade sooner rather than later.

Answer 4

This method is only for those who know that Mysql is installed but still mysql_config can't be find. This happens if python install can't find mysql_config in your system path, which mostly happens if you have done the installation via .dmg Mac Package or installed at some custom path. The easiest and documented way by MySqlDB is to change the site.cfg. Find the mysql_config which is probably in /usr/local/mysql/bin/ and change the variable namely mysql_config just like below and run the installation again. Don't forget to un-comment it by removing "#"

Change below line

"#mysql_config = /usr/local/bin/mysql_config"

to

"mysql_config = /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config"

depending upon the path in your system.

By the way I used python install after changing the site.cfg

sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python setup.py install

Answer 5

So far, all solutions (Linux) require sudo or root rights to install . Here is a solution if you do not have root rights and without sudo. (no sudo apt install ...):

1. Download the .deb file of the libmysqlclient-dev, e.g. from this mirror
2. Navigate to the downloaded file and run dpkg -x libmysqlclient-dev_<version tag>.deb . This will extract a folder called usr.

3. Symlink ./usr/bin/mysql_config to somewhere that is found on your $PATH:

   ln -s `pwd` /usr/bin/mysql_config FOLDER_IN_YOUR_PATH

4. It should now be able to find mysql_config

Tested on Ubuntu 18.04.

Answer 6

sudo apt-get build-dep python-mysqldb will install all the dependencies to build the package from PIP/easy_install