Quick tips

How to stop and remove MySQL server on a Mac but keep the client

Remove MySQL server on a Mac

The other day I wanted to run some project via Docker Compose. Surprisingly, the MySQL service defined normally like this:

mysql:
       image: tutum/mysql
       env_file:
         - docker.env
       ports:
         - "3306:3306"

didn’t start, because I apparently had MySQL server already running locally.

Trust me, I tried everything from this StackOverflow post but any time I tried to kill the process (that I saw is running with ps aux | grep mysql) it would spun back up.

Then, I remembered that I installed MySQL server some time ago via the app called MAMP. I went in and removed all of that and also I found one post that I’ll paste here (full credit to Vitor Britto):

# Remove MySQL completely

1. Open the Terminal
2. Use `mysqldump` to backup your databases
3. Check for MySQL processes with: `ps -ax | grep mysql`
4. Stop and kill any MySQL processes
5. Analyze MySQL on HomeBrew: 

    ```
    brew remove mysql
    brew cleanup
    ```

6. Remove files: 

    ```
    sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
    sudo rm -rf /usr/local/var/mysql
    sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
    sudo rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
    sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
    sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*
    ```

7. Unload previous MySQL Auto-Login: 

    ```
    launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
    ```

8. Remove previous MySQL Configuration: 

    ```
    subl /etc/hostconfig` 
    # Remove the line MYSQLCOM=-YES-
    ```

9. Remove previous MySQL Preferences: 

    ```
    rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My*
    sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
    sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*
    sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/*mysql*
    ```

10. Restart your computer just to ensure any MySQL processes are killed
11. Try to run mysql, **it shouldn't work**

Keep the MySQL client for interacting with the MySQL databases

At this point, I removed everything related to MySQL, but I still needed the client to connect to the MySQL database that I ran with Docker Compose.

The fastest way (that I’ve found in this StackOverflow post) to install the client without installing the server was to install MySQLWorkbench and then add this to your path (I put these in my .zshrc file; you may use .bashrc):

export PATH=$PATH:/Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app/Contents/MacOS

Of course, the path may vary for you in case you’ve installed it in some other location. Anyway, hope this helps someone… ?

Written by Nikola Brežnjak