INSTALL.rst

MySQLdb Installation

Contents

• Prerequisites
• Building and installing
  • Windows
• Binary Packages
  • Red Hat Linux
  • Debian GNU/Linux
  • Ubuntu
  • Gentoo Linux
  • BSD
• License

Prerequisites

• Python 3.5 or higher
• setuptools
  • https://pypi.org/project/setuptools/
• MySQL 5.5 or higher
  • https://www.mysql.com/downloads/
  • MySQL 5.1 may work, but not supported.
• C compiler
  • Most free software-based systems already have this, usually gcc.
  • Most commercial UNIX platforms also come with a C compiler, or you can also use gcc.
  • If you have some Windows flavor, you should use Windows SDK or Visual C++.

Building and installing

The setup.py script uses mysql_config to find all compiler and linker options, and should work as is on any POSIX-like platform, so long as mysql_config is in your path.

Depending on which version of MySQL you have, you may have the option of using three different client libraries. To select the client library, edit the [options] section of site.cfg:

static

if True, try to link against a static library; otherwise link against dynamic libraries (default). This option doesn't work for MySQL>5.6 since libmysqlclient requires libstdc++. If you want to use, add -lstdc++ to mysql_config manually.

If <mysql prefix>/lib is not added to /etc/ld.so.conf, import _mysql doesn't work. To fix this, (1) set LD_LIBRARY_PATH, or (2) add -Wl,-rpath,<mysql prefix>/lib to ldflags in your mysql_config.

Finally, putting it together:

$ tar xz mysqlclient-1.3.6.tar.gz
$ cd mysqlclient-1.3.6
$ # edit site.cfg if necessary
$ python setup.py build
$ sudo python setup.py install # or su first

Windows

I don't do Windows. However if someone provides me with a package for Windows, I'll make it available. Don't ask me for help with Windows because I can't help you.

Generally, though, running setup.py is similar to above:

C:\...> python setup.py install
C:\...> python setup.py bdist_wininst

The latter example should build a Windows installer package, if you have the correct tools. In any event, you must have a C compiler. Additionally, you have to set an environment variable (mysqlroot) which is the path to your MySQL installation. In theory, it would be possible to get this information out of the registry, but like I said, I don't do Windows, but I'll accept a patch that does this.

On Windows, you will definitely have to edit site.cfg since there is no mysql_config in the MySQL package.

Binary Packages

I don't plan to make binary packages any more. However, if someone contributes one, I will make it available. Several OS vendors have their own packages available.

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.

Debian GNU/Linux

Packaged as python-mysqldb:

# apt-get install python-mysqldb

Or use Synaptic.

Ubuntu

Same as with Debian.

Gentoo Linux

Packaged as mysql-python.

# emerge sync
# emerge mysql-python
# emerge zmysqlda # if you use Zope

BSD

MySQL-python is a ported package in FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, although the name may vary to match OS conventions.

License

GPL or the original license based on Python 1.5.2's license.

Author:	Andy Dustman <andy@dustman.net>