linux mysql-server can't find mysql_config

Question

I have a running (in production) mysql instance on my linux server (ubuntu-10.10) however I cannot find my mysql_config file.

command and output:

~$ locate mysql_config
~$

I've heard/read that I need the libmysqlclient-dev package installed to be able to use mysql_config but I don't want to break my current production instance. I want to make sure installing this dev package is not going to have adverse effects on my current mysql databases.

Furthermore, where can I find the source download for libmysqlclient-dev to install manually? In my current situation (behind corporate proxy) I am not permitted to use apt-get's.

UPDATE

this is stemming from attempting to install python-MySQLdb from source. the setup.py file is requiring the mysql_config path and continues to break when trying to use anything but that file.

Answer 1

The mysql_config executable is by default located in the bin directory of the MySQL server installation if you install it from precompiled binaries. But if you install it using apt-get it may not exist on your server.

Try:

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev