Changes to /etc/mysql cause installation failure

Bug #1612569 reported by Lars Tangvald
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
mysql-5.7 (Ubuntu)
Triaged
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

We get a fair amount of installation failures due to issues with the contents of /etc/mysql, such as /etc/mysql/my.cnf.fallback being missing when it's set up with alternatives.

The most common cause seems to be deleting /etc/mysql after removing (not purging) packages, resulting in files not being rewritten there when trying to install.

The workaround is to run apt-get purge mysql-common to clear out the conffiles properly, then reinstall.

Might be related to LP: #1602945

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in mysql-5.7 (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Robie Basak (racb) wrote :

I got the impression that it was caused by users trying to fix up other things by attempting to remove /etc/mysql completely and then reinstalling, but not purging and reinstalling mysql-common as part of that process. But sure - that might not be the only cause, so if you think it's worth investigating then we should.

Revision history for this message
Lars Tangvald (lars-tangvald) wrote :

Yes, I haven't been able to reproduce this without manually changing /etc/mysql.
But it might be worth adding a check on the result of the alternatives-command and having it suggest purging and reinstalling mysql-common if there's a failure?

description: updated
Revision history for this message
Robie Basak (racb) wrote :

Sure, that's a good idea.

Changed in mysql-5.7 (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Robie Basak (racb)
Changed in mysql-5.7 (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
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