How To Remove MySQL Completely from Your Linux System

MySQL is a popular open-source relational database management system. However, sometimes you may need to remove MySQL from your Linux system due to various reasons such as upgrading to a newer version, replacing it with another database system, or simply uninstalling it. In this article, we’ll show you how to remove MySQL completely from your Linux system in a safe and effective manner.

Before we begin, it is recommended to back up your data and configuration files before uninstalling MySQL. You can use the mysqldump utility to back up your data or copy the entire MySQL data directory to a safe location.

Here’s the step-by-step guide to removing MySQL from your Linux system:

Step 1: Stop MySQL Service

First of all, you need to stop MySQL service on your system.

sudo systemctl stop mysql 

This stops the MySQL service, allowing you to safely remove the database.

Step 2: Uninstall MySQL packages

First, uninstall all the MySQL packages installed on your server. Use one of the following commands as per your Linux distribution. The package names may vary based on the Operating system and installation types.

On Debain-based systems

sudo apt remove mysql-server mysql-client 
sudo apt autoremove 
sudo apt autoclean 

On RHEL-based systems

sudo dnf remove mysql-server mysql-client 

This removes the MySQL packages and their dependencies from your system. The autoremove and autoclean commands remove unnecessary packages and clean up the package cache.

Step 3: Remove MySQL configuration and data files

Now we need to remove the MySQL data directory from the system which by default exists at /var/lib/mysql. If you didn’t find this, It may be changed to some other place, which you can find in my.cnf file with variable datadir. Delete the /var/lib/mysql directory from the system but we prefer to rename it to keep a backup of existing files.

sudo rm -rf /etc/mysql 
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mysql 

This removes the MySQL configuration files and data directory. Be careful while removing these files, as they contain important data. Make sure to back up your data before removing these files.

Step 4: Verify the Removal

This following command lists all the packages installed on your system, and grep for the word ‘mysql’. If there are no MySQL packages installed, you have successfully removed MySQL from your system.

dpkg -l | grep -i mysql 

That’s it! You have now successfully removed MySQL from your Linux system. You can now install a different database system or simply enjoy a cleaner system without MySQL.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing MySQL from your Linux system is a straightforward process, but it’s important to back up your data and follow the steps carefully to avoid any data loss. I hope this ultimate guide has been helpful in removing MySQL from your Linux system.