PHP & MySQL on Leopard: mysql.sock Location | October 30, 2007
One thing I noticed setting up PHP and MySQL on Leopard, is that the default PHP build looks for the MySQL socket in /var/mysql/mysql.sock which doesn’t exist and isn’t the location that MySQL would use if it did (by default anyway). By default the MySQL socket is: /tmp/mysql.sock.
There are four ways to fix this:
- Create the /var/mysql directory (
sudo mkdir /var/mysql) and then create a symbolic link from/tmp/mysql.sockto/var/mysql/mysql.sock(with:sudo ln -s /tmp/mysql.sock /var/mysql/mysql.sock). - Edit the
/etc/php.inifile (it may not exist in which case justsudo cp /etc/php.ini.default /etc/php.ini) so that themysql.default_socket = /tmp/mysql.sock(by default line 760) andmysqli.default_socket = /tmp/mysql.sock(by default line 795). - Edit
/etc/my.cnfadding the following lines:
[mysqld]
socket=/var/mysql/mysql.sock
[client]
socket=/var/mysql/mysql.sock
This will tell MySQL to create its socket where Leopard’s default PHP is looking for it. Next, you also need to create the /var/mysql directory andsudo chown mysql /var/mysqlit or MySQL won’t start since it wont be able to create the socket. - Recompile php for your version of MySQL (a PIA, but not a terrible idea at all).
Of these #1 is easiest, but a bit of a hack. #2 is the easiest real way. #3 isn’t to bad, but could cause issues with other MySQL clients that look for the socket in /tmp/mysql.sock. #4 is ultimately the best fix, but is clearly neither very fast nor particularly easy

Migrating MySQL 5.0.45 to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
http://blog.tomatocheese.com/archives/2007/11/1/migrating_mysql_to_mac_os_x_leopard/
Comment by Joannou Ng — November 1, 2007 @ 11:42 pm
[…] beyondmac(dot)com […]
Pingback by insites » Blog Archive » MySQL in Leopard — November 8, 2007 @ 10:29 am
Thank you for this, it was very easy to find on google and helped out quickly.
Comment by Nate — November 29, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
[…] a good explanation of your choices in how to fix it. I like solution #1 unless you have the time and energy to tackle […]
Pingback by Null is Love » Blog Archive » Taming Leopard for PHP — December 19, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
This solved a headache I had for 2 days. You give not one but four solutions. Thanks. Leopard should have Mysql pre-installed just like PHP.
Comment by hanafi — June 26, 2008 @ 9:42 pm