How do I uninstall MySQL on Mac OS X (Snow Leopard)?

Question

I had installed MySQL from the command line when I setup a local web server with custom modules on my Snow Leopard box. I recently discovered MAMP and its just easier to work with it than with the personal web server Apple has and via command like utils.

I uninstall ports completely but still see 'mysqld' in my Activity Monitor. I would like to uninstall this cleanly. Any tips?

Answer 1

If you haven't yet rebooted your computer, the process could still be running. First, reboot.

Then if MySQL is still showing up after a reboot, from the Terminal, issue the following commands one at a time¹:

• sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
• sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
• sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
• sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*
• rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My*
• sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
• sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*

And using your text editor of choice:

• Edit /etc/hostconfig and remove the line MYSQLCOM=-YES-

If you still cannot install or run a different version of MySQL, you might have to issue one last command in the Terminal²:

• sudo rm -rf /var/db/receipts/com.mysql.mysql*

Answer 2

Another option is to do the following

Run this

launchctl list|grep mysql

Make note of the name of the mysql process name

launchctl unload mysql-process-name-from-other-command.plist

This will stop the process without need to uninstall or restarting.

Answer 3

You will need to kill the mysqld proccess in the Activity Monitor.

Then you will need to delete the following:

/usr/local/mysql
/usr/local/mysql-5.1.45-osx10.5-x86_64/
/Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM/
/Library/PreferencePanes/MySQL.prefPane/
/Library/Receipts/mysql-5.1.45-osx10.5-x86_64.pkg/
/Library/Receipts/MySQLStartupItem.pkg/

Some of the folders with version numbers in them may be names different then what I have listed.

Also this Stackoverflow question may help: How do you uninstall MySQL from Mac OS X?