Re: Uninstall MySQL on OS X

[Chris von Rabenau]

Here is the story as I have found it. Unless you are dead set on uninstalling the default mysql version, there is no need to uninstall it. Currently, I have 3 different mySQL servers installed. The first (and default location of Apple's install) is in /Library/MySQL/. This is version 4.0.xx. The other two mySQL databases I have installed in /usr/local/mysql5.0 (version 5.1) and /usr/local/mysql/ (version 4.1). First, to stop the currently running version simply type 'mysqladmin -u root -p shutdown'. This will stop the currently running mysql daemon. To bounce between the 3 mysql versions, I simply 'cd' into the particular mysql directory. Then do some sort of 'sudo' command like 'sudo ls' to start sudo mode, otherwise you will type your sudo password in the clear. Then all you need to do is 'sudo ./bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &'. I have actually created an alias in my .tcshrc called 'mysqld', that runs the above, since it is only dependent on being in the pertinent mysql directory. This starts the mysqld daemon in the background from the current binary directory using user mysql. What you will find is that once you have started the mysql.sock w/a particular mysql version, on reboot, it will use that version rather than the default install. This is nice.