Error mysql config not found when installing mysqldb python interface

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

Hello @kartik,

MySQLdb is a python interface for mysql, but it is not mysql itself. And apparently mySQLdb needs the command 'mysql_config', so you need to install that first.

Can you confirm that you did or did not install mysql itself, by running "mysql" from the shell? That should give you a response other than "mysql: command not found".

Which linux distribution are you using? Mysql is pre-packaged for most linux distributions. For example, for debian / ubuntu, installing mysql is as easy as

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

mysql-config is in a different package, which can be installed from (again, assuming debian / ubuntu):

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev

if you are using mariadb, the drop in replacement for mysql, then run

sudo apt-get install libmariadbclient-dev

Hope this is helpful!

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Thanks!