"Rejected send message, 1 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.5"" while starting MySQL

I have a mysql that has been working fine but now will not start. All I've been able to accomplish is using

sudo start mysql

which generates the following error:

start: Rejected send message, 1 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.5" (uid=1000 pid=1678 comm="start mysql ") interface="com.ubuntu.Upstart0_6.Job" member="Start" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination="com.ubuntu.Upstart" (uid=0 pid=1 comm="/sbin/init")

I've tried googling sections of it, but it seems this is basically a useless error. Anyway I can get more information about what is going on?

Solution 1:

The problem is this:

uid=1000

That bit means that the user that contacted Upstart to perform the start action has the uid 1000 (not root, root is 0). That uid is usually assigned to the first non-system user. Something must be severely wrong with your usage of sudo, or sudo itself, because the command is not properly escalating to root.

You can see the same error with this command, for comparison (note the absence of sudo):

start --system mysql

Solution 2:

The recommended way to start services is to use the service command:

sudo service mysql start