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There are a number of tutorials floating around that explain how to install MySQL 5 on Snow Leopard. They all recommend the x86_64 universal binary supplied by MySQL. If you’d like to install MySQL via MacPorts (MySQL5 is certified compatible!), here are the steps:

1. Install MySQL with developer libraries:
   

   sudo port install mysql5-devel

2. Create the required databases:
   

   sudo /opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin/mysql_install_db –user=mysql

   If you get permissions errors, run (warning: don’t do this in production!):
   

   sudo chmod -Rf 777 /opt/local/var/db/mysql5

   and repeat.

3. Set your mysql password:
   

   /opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin/mysqladmin -u mysql password ‘your-password-here’

Now, for the MySQL gem:

1. One-line install with MacPorts config path:
   

   sudo gem install mysql — –with-mysql-config=/opt/local/bin/mysql_config5

   or, if you want to use version 2.7 (instead of the latest 2.8.1):
   

   sudo gem install mysql –version 2.7 — –with-mysql-config=/opt/local/bin/mysql_config5

You’re ready to roll. To start your MySQL daemon, run:

sudo /opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin/mysqld_safe &