Python "mysqlclient" install fails with "metadata-generation-failed" (SOLVED)

sundialsvcs · 06-07-2022, 08:27 PM

Having briefly wasted my time with "stackoverflow," it occurs to me that this might be a much more productive forum upon which to ask this question.

A "pip" installation of the "mysqlclient" package is currently failing with the error message: "metadata-generation-failed." A superficial exam of the usual internet places does not find a useful explanation, and the handful of "solutions" that I have found make no sense. Therefore, and before I "dumpster-dive" into the relevant install scripts ... does anyone here have any idea?

(I've done a bit of questioning into what MySQL might mean by "metadata," but I'm not uncovering anything that need be "generated," especially as part of a perfectly routine "client interface package" installation ...)

teckk · 06-08-2022, 02:00 PM

I don't know what that refers to. I never use pip to install python anything. I don't like it. It's outside of ones package manager. I've seen it cause all kinds of problems. Even when things install without error, one still messes up the python tree, so that the package manager does not know about it.

Isn't python-mysqlclient in your distros repo? If not, here it is.
https://github.com/PyMySQL/mysqlclient

Maybe someone else knows more.

sundialsvcs · 06-08-2022, 02:19 PM

I solved this problem!

The original error output was as follows:

Code:

Collecting mysqlclient
  Using cached mysqlclient-2.1.0.tar.gz (87 kB)
  Preparing metadata (setup.py) ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error
  
  × python setup.py egg_info did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [16 lines of output]
      /bin/sh: mysql_config: command not found
      /bin/sh: mariadb_config: command not found
      /bin/sh: mysql_config: command not found
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "<string>", line 2, in <module>
        File "<pip-setuptools-caller>", line 34, in <module>
        File "/private/var/folders/zv/60vkqgms41v8zg76_n8rntg00000gn/T/pip-install-_nlyaw6p/mysqlclient_a781e05976524422b764a6902ff6fe88/setup.py", line 15, in <module>
          metadata, options = get_config()
        File "/private/var/folders/zv/60vkqgms41v8zg76_n8rntg00000gn/T/pip-install-_nlyaw6p/mysqlclient_a781e05976524422b764a6902ff6fe88/setup_posix.py", line 70, in get_config
          libs = mysql_config("libs")
        File "/private/var/folders/zv/60vkqgms41v8zg76_n8rntg00000gn/T/pip-install-_nlyaw6p/mysqlclient_a781e05976524422b764a6902ff6fe88/setup_posix.py", line 31, in mysql_config
          raise OSError("{} not found".format(_mysql_config_path))
      OSError: mysql_config not found
      mysql_config --version
      mariadb_config --version
      mysql_config --libs
      [end of output]
  
  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: metadata-generation-failed

× Encountered error while generating package metadata.
╰─> See above for output.

I then realized that the crux of the problem was:

Code:

/bin/sh: mysql_config: command not found

"Metadata generation failed" obviously means that Pip could not find the necessary command to do it.

The solution turned out to be to find where the mysql_config command was located on my system (using "locate" ...), and to temporarily add it to $PATH, which in my (MacOS ...) case required the following command:

Code:

export PATH=/usr/local/mysql-5.7.16-osx10.11-x86_64/bin:$PATH

Once I did this, the installation worked.

ondoho · 06-08-2022, 11:46 PM

Please mark your thread SOLVED (see my signature). Others will benefit.

sundialsvcs · 06-09-2022, 10:10 AM

I can't access that page ... "permission denied" of some kind. This should be a public "sticky."

ondoho · 06-10-2022, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundialsvcs

I can't access that page ... "permission denied" of some kind. This should be a public "sticky."

Gaslighting.
I can see the LQ blog post from a different IP even without logging in.

sundialsvcs · 06-14-2022, 07:29 PM

No "gaslighting" here ... how silly to suggest such a thing.

When I follow the link at the bottom of this person's various posts, yes while logged-in, I wind up at an "access denied" page. And so, since the technique is not obvious (I literally still do not know how to do it, after all these years ...), I think that the forum owners should make it a public "sticky." (Lots of things in this world are "obvious" once you know them! And, that's why we have a "facepalm" emoji!)