ruby on rails - MySQL Install: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension

Question

I'm trying to get MySQL installed to the latest version due to some installation going wrong somewhere along the line. I run the command gem install mysql and I receive the following:

Building native extensions. This could take a while... ERROR: Error installing mysql: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby extconf.rb extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:7: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby at /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ruby.h

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1 for inspection. Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1/ext/mysql_api/gem_make.out

I've searched, and tried a whole host of things, from installing specific versions to trying to reinstall ruby without any luck.

Any ideas where I may be going wrong?

I'm trying to get MySQL installed to the latest version due to some installation going wrong somewhere along the line. I run the command gem install mysql and I receive the following:

Building native extensions. This could take a while... ERROR: Error installing mysql: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby extconf.rb extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:7: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby at /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ruby.h

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1 for inspection. Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1/ext/mysql_api/gem_make.out

I've searched, and tried a whole host of things, from installing specific versions to trying to reinstall ruby without any luck.

Any ideas where I may be going wrong?

EDIT: I installed XCode off my Snow Leopard DVD and the error just changed slightly to the following:

Building native extensions. This could take a while... ERROR: Error installing mysql: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby extconf.rb extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:4: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:7: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 extconf.rb:17: warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/bin in PATH, mode 040777 checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no checking for main() in -lm... yes checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no checking for main() in -lz... yes checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no checking for main() in -lsocket... no checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no checking for main() in -lnsl... no checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no checking for main() in -lmygcc... no checking for mysql_query() in -lmysqlclient... no * extconf.rb failed * Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of necessary libraries and/or headers. Check the mkmf.log file for more details. You may need configuration options.

Provided configuration options: --with-opt-dir --without-opt-dir --with-opt-include --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include --with-opt-lib --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/lib --with-make-prog --without-make-prog --srcdir=. --curdir --ruby=/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby --with-mysql-config --without-mysql-config --with-mysql-dir --without-mysql-dir --with-mysql-include --without-mysql-include=${mysql-dir}/include --with-mysql-lib --without-mysql-lib=${mysql-dir}/lib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib --with-mlib --without-mlib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib --with-zlib --without-zlib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib --with-socketlib --without-socketlib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib --with-nsllib --without-nsllib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib --with-mygcclib --without-mygcclib --with-mysqlclientlib --without-mysqlclientlib

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1 for inspection. Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1/ext/mysql_api/gem_make.out

doing "which mysql" on the command line returns nothing, which means it's not recognizing it. I also installed the MySQL system preferences option, and I can't stop MySQL from running. Now I'm completely stuck as what to do!

EDIT EDIT

I've just completely reinstalled MySQL using this guide http://hivelogic.com/articles/installing-mysql-on-mac-os-x

Unfortunately this didn't work either, I still receive the same errors. I can't even do mysql -uroot at the command line, I get the error of:

ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

So I think I've tried everything.

**SOLVED*

Sorry guys, the reason for this not working was because of the MySQL paths. I've blogged on it here: http://www.kieransenior.co.uk/2010/02/mysql-cant-connect-using-ruby-on-rails-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/

Answer 1

On Debian (or Ubuntu) systems, just install libmysqlclient-dev package using:

sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev

and then:

gem install mysql

It will be installed without any error.