How to remove MySQL completely Mac OS X Leopard

Written on 23-10-2008 – 20:16:25 | by Tom Keur

Hi,

After I’ve been searching alot I finally mananged it to delete MySQL from my Macbook pro.

The steps:

First you need to edit the file in: /etc/hostconfig and remove the line

Since this is a system file I advise you to open it with nano in terminal:

Open Terminal
sudo nano /etc/hostconfig
Enter your password if you’re not authed yet.
Delete the following line: “MYSQLCOM=-YES-”
CTRL+X (This is the command for closing NANO, Enter the “Y” key to save the file and exit nano).

Second step:

Make sure MySQL is not running.

Open Terminal and copy and paste and run the following commands:

sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*
sudo rm /etc/my.cnf

MySQL is now removed from your MAC.

Edit 26-02-2009: Maarten van der Pee wrote a comment that it’s allso needed to delete the my.conf, I added it to the list of commands. Thanks Maarten!

Stem of voeg toe aan:

26 Responses to “How to remove MySQL completely Mac OS X Leopard”
By Fabian on Feb 8, 2009 | Reply

I spent hours trying to remove mysql from my MacBook in order to re-install. None of the information that I found online seemed to work until I tried your method. Thank you very much!
By Tubby on Feb 11, 2009 | Reply

Goodie, need to do try this xD
By Maarten van der Peet on Feb 25, 2009 | Reply

Don’t forget sudo rm /etc/my.cnf
If you want to try out MAMP you get mysql socket problems if you don’t delete this file
By Daytona on Feb 26, 2009 | Reply

Just wanted to say thank. Like Fabian, I spent hours trying to find a way to remove it, all I found was people asking, and everyone else telling them not to.

You were a BIG BIG BIG help.

Cheers Mate

Daytona
By Andrew on Apr 23, 2009 | Reply

In your code sample you have my.cnf. is that supposed to be my.conf?
By Tom Keur on May 1, 2009 | Reply

Hey,

Yeah it’s my.conf I changed my post.
Thanks for the comment (:.
By strangelove on May 14, 2009 | Reply

thanks mate
By Matthew Brand on Jun 23, 2009 | Reply

Thanks.

The writers of mysql should just make it easier to uninstall their product. I have no idea why they have made that so difficult to do.
By anyabelle on Jun 29, 2009 | Reply

Thanks
By Salomon Lee on Jul 8, 2009 | Reply

Thanks. It was a great help.
By Liz on Jul 16, 2009 | Reply

Another place I went to before this forum didn’t say to delete the MYSQLCOM=-YES- line beforehand….I went to do this after having already completed all the other steps. Now MYSQLCOM=-YES- can’t be deleted it seems. I think everything else is uninstalled?? I am new to this, so I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what’s wrong. Any help would be appreciated!!
By Pablo on Aug 25, 2009 | Reply

Thanks! Big help!
By ProjectBuilder on Dec 1, 2009 | Reply

Thank you for this post, excellent short guide to remove MySQL from Mac!
By Tony on Dec 21, 2009 | Reply

Thanks for this. I’m not terminal savy and rely on bbedit a lot. Though it can see system files it can’t delete them.
Thanks again.
By Amir on Dec 30, 2009 | Reply

Thanks but add this one:
sudo rm -rf /var/db/receipts/com.mysql.*
I can’t install another version before doing that.
By Anoop Sharma on Jan 3, 2010 | Reply

Thank you so much.

Tried to find the info on the mysql webpage and could not find it on there. You have been a great help. Thanks
By jeet on Jan 5, 2010 | Reply

Thanks a lot…..i was looking for help on net for removing mysql cluster 7.0.9. thanks once again
By Ricardo on Feb 12, 2010 | Reply

cool one! cheers man!
By Ed on Feb 14, 2010 | Reply

Thanks I could not figure out the uninstall so that I can start fresh.
By cavin on Feb 25, 2010 | Reply

thanks.
By Mutia Fijri Taufani on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply

thanx for your information, i’ve been searching for an hour, and finally got the solution here..thank you!
By Tyson on Mar 21, 2010 | Reply

You are a scholar and a gentleman. A few other methods I tried didn’t work, but this did. Thanks for posting.
By Matt on Mar 23, 2010 | Reply

For snow leopard you also need:
sudo rm -rf /var/db/receipts/com.mysql.mysql*

Taken from:
http://egopoly.com/2009/09/01/how-to-uninstall-mysql-5-1-on-snow-leopard/comment-page-1/#comment-21682