Ubuntu remove mysql

There are times when we need to remove a version of mysql to replace it with another, or need to remove a conflicting copy of the same program.

The Ubuntu dpkg-query command can be us to pull information pertaining to install packages. Here's an outpout of all of the installated packages of mysql.

root@localhost:~# dpkg --list |grep mysql
ii  libdbd-mysql-perl                   4.025-1                       amd64        Perl5 database interface to the MySQL database
ii  libmysqlclient18:amd64              5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database client library
ii  mysql-client-core-5.6               5.6.19-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database core client binaries
ii  mysql-common                        5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       all          MySQL database common files, e.g. /etc/mysql/my.cnf
rc  mysql-server-5.5                    5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database server binaries and system database setup
ii  mysql-server-core-5.5               5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database server binaries

As you can see here we have two copies of the MYSQL 5.5. and 5.6,  that can potentially cause conflicts amongst LAMP stack applications. To remove the version of mysql-5.6 that is conflicting with your programs we'll run the following command.

root@localhost:~#  dpkg -r mysql-client-core-5.6
(Reading database ... 54555 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing mysql-client-core-5.6 (5.6.19-0ubuntu0.14.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1) ...

Now lets check again if we remove the correct file.

root@localhost:~# dpkg --list | grep mysql
ii  libdbd-mysql-perl                   4.025-1                       amd64        Perl5 database interface to the MySQL database
ii  libmysqlclient18:amd64              5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database client library
ii  mysql-common                        5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       all          MySQL database common files, e.g. /etc/mysql/my.cnf
rc  mysql-server-5.5                    5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database server binaries and system database setup
ii  mysql-server-core-5.5               5.5.44-0ubuntu0.14.04.1       amd64        MySQL database server binaries

Flags to know when using the DPKG command.

• u ... unknown
• i ... install
• r ... remove/deinstall
• p ... purge (remove including config files)
• h ... hold

Now you have all the tools to remove mysql or any other program on a debian/Ubuntu machine.