Getting “Error loading MySQLdb module: No module n

Question

This is a much discussed issue for OSX 10.6 users, but I haven't been able to find a solution that works. Here's my setup:

Python 2.6.1 64bit Django 1.2.1 MySQL 5.1.47 osx10.6 64bit

I create a virtualenvwrapper with --no-site-packages, then installed Django. When I activate the virtualenv and run python manage.py syncdb, I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "manage.py", line 11, in <module>
  execute_manager(settings)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 438, in execute_manager
  utility.execute()
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 379, in execute
  self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 257, in fetch_command
  klass = load_command_class(app_name, subcommand)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 67, in load_command_class
  module = import_module('%s.management.commands.%s' % (app_name, name))
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/utils/importlib.py", line 35, in import_module
  __import__(name)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/syncdb.py", line 7, in <module>
from django.core.management.sql import custom_sql_for_model, emit_post_sync_signal
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/sql.py", line 5, in <module>
from django.contrib.contenttypes import generic
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/contrib/contenttypes/generic.py", line 6, in <module>
  from django.db import connection
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/db/__init__.py", line 75, in <module>
  connection = connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS]
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 91, in __getitem__
  backend = load_backend(db['ENGINE'])
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/db/utils.py", line 32, in load_backend
  return import_module('.base', backend_name)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/utils/importlib.py", line 35, in import_module
  __import__(name)
File "/Users/joerobinson/.virtualenvs/dj_tut/lib/python2.6/site-packages/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py", line 14, in <module>
  raise ImproperlyConfigured("Error loading MySQLdb module: %s" % e)
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Error loading MySQLdb module: No module named MySQLdb

I've also installed the MySQL for Python adapter, but to no avail (maybe I installed it improperly?).

Anyone dealt with this before?

Answer 1

sudo apt-get install python-mysqldb works perfectly in ubuntu

pip install mysql-python raises an Environment Error

Answer 2

If you are using python3, then try this(My OS is Ubuntu 16.04):

sudo apt-get install python3-mysqldb

Answer 3

Adding to other answers, the following helped me finish the installation mysql-python:

virtualenv, mysql-python, pip: anyone know how?

On Ubuntu...

apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev
apt-get install python-dev
pip install mysql-python

Don't forget to add 'sudo' to the beginning of commands if you don't have the proper permissions.

Answer 4

The following worked perfectly for me, running Ubuntu 13.10 64-bit:

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev
sudo apt-get install python-dev

Now, navigate to your virtualenv (such as env folder) and execute the following:

sudo ./bin/pip install mysql-python

I actually found the solution in a separate question and I am quoting it below:

If you have created the virtualenv with the --no-site-packages switch (the default), then system-wide installed additions such as MySQLdb are not included in the virtual environment packages.

You need to install MySQLdb with the pip command installed with the virtualenv. Either activate the virtualenv with the bin/activate script, or use bin/pip from within the virtualenv to install the MySQLdb library locally as well.

Alternatively, create a new virtualenv with system site-packages included by using the --system-site-package switch.

I think this should also work with OSX. The only problem would be getting an equivalent command for installing libmysqlclient-dev and python-dev as they are needed to compile mysql-python I guess.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You can install as pip install mysqlclient

Answer 6

pip did not work for me on windows 8 64 bits system. easy_install mysql-python works for me. You can use easy_install to avoid building binaries on windows if pip does not work.