I upgraded to Snow Leopard using the disc we got at WWDC.

Trying to run some of my rails apps now complains about sql

    (in /Users/coneybeare/Projects/Ambiance/ambiance-server)
!!! The bundled mysql.rb driver has been removed from Rails 2.2. Please install the mysql gem and try again: gem install mysql.
Importing all sounds in /Users/coneybeare/Projects/Ambiance/ambiance-sounds/Import 32/Compressed/

 -- AdirondackPeepers.caf
!!! The bundled mysql.rb driver has been removed from Rails 2.2. Please install the mysql gem and try again: gem install mysql.
rake aborted!
dlopen(/opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7/lib/mysql.bundle, 9): Library not loaded: /usr/local/mysql/lib/libmysqlclient.16.dylib
  Referenced from: /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7/lib/mysql.bundle
  Reason: image not found - /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7/lib/mysql.bundle

(See full trace by running task with --trace)

I could have sworn I fixed this once before. The problem is that

sudo gem install mysql

does not work and gives the error:

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

/opt/local/bin/ruby extconf.rb install mysql
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


Gem files will remain installed in /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7 for inspection.
Results logged to /opt/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7/gem_make.out

Has anybody gotten mysql to work with rails on snow leopard yet? If so, what is your setup and better yet, what can I do to reproduce it?


I just went through the same pain... here's what worked for me:

  1. Download / install the 64-bit MySQL 5.1.37 from mysql.com
  2. run the following commands:

    sudo gem update --system

    sudo env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install mysql -- --with-mysql-config=/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config

I also uninstalled all mysql gems that were floating around from my 10.5 days, that may do it if the above doesn't work for you :)


Rebuilding mysql as 64bit or installing the 64bit version is important, but you also need to make sure you build the native parts of the mysql gem as 64bit as well (this doesn't apply if you are on one of the original Intel Core Duo macs).

Here's the magic command:

env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install mysql -- --with-mysql-config=/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config

You should set the ARCHFLAGS as shown above whenever you do a gem install with native components on Snow Leopard.


If you're using bundler, you can use "bundle config" to set the proper build arguments for mysql like so:

bundle config build.mysql --with-mysql-config=/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config

I fought with this for a long time and finally got it working on Snow Leopard. I ended up installing Ruby, RubyGems, and MySQL from source (see the Hivelogic tutorial for installing Ruby and RubyGems. The MySQL tutorial is linked at the bottom). I finally got the gem to install, but I was still getting

dyld: lazy symbol binding failed: Symbol not found: _mysql_init
  Referenced from: /Library/Ruby/Site/1.8/universal-darwin10.0/mysql.bundle
  Expected in: flat namespace

dyld: Symbol not found: _mysql_init
  Referenced from: /Library/Ruby/Site/1.8/universal-darwin10.0/mysql.bundle
  Expected in: flat namespace

Trace/BPT trap

I finally deleted the mysql.bundle (I have no idea what this is for) and it all worked.

sudo rm -f /Library/Ruby/Site/1.8/universal-darwin10.0/mysql.bundle

Hope that helps someone.