How to Install MySQL Client on Mac using Homebrew

If you're a developer or a system administrator, you might need to work with MySQL databases. In this article, we'll guide you through the process of installing the MySQL client on your Mac using Homebrew.

### Verify the Installed MySQL Instance

Before we start, let's verify if MySQL is already installed on your system. Open your terminal and type `$ mysql -V`. The expected output should be `Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.7.22, for osx10.13 (x86_64)`.

### Load and Start the MySQL Service

To load and start the MySQL service, run the command `$ brew services start` in your terminal. You should see the output `Successfully started mysql (label: )`.

### Check if the MySQL Service is Loaded

To check if the MySQL service has been loaded, run the command `$ brew services list`. This will show you a list of all services managed by Homebrew.

### Force Link 5.7 Version

If you want to install the specific version of MySQL 5.7, you'll need to force link it using the command `$ brew link -force mysql@5.7`.

### Install Brew Services First

Before installing MySQL, make sure you have Brew services installed on your system. You can do this by running the command `$ brew tap homebrew/services`.

### Install MySQL

To install MySQL, run the command `$ brew install mysql`. Note that Homebrew will download and install Command Line Tools for Xcode 8.0 as part of the installation process.

### Additional Configuration

Once you've installed MySQL, you may want to check its version using the command `$ brew info mysql`. You should see the output `stable 5.7.22 (bottled)`.

### Alternative: Install MariaDB

If you're not particular about installing MySQL, you can install Mariadb instead. Mariadb is a community fork of MySQL and has excellent community support. To install Mariadb, run the command `$ sudo port install mariadb`. You can choose which version of Mariadb you want to install by running the command `port search 'mariadb*'`.

###

In this article, we've shown you how to install the MySQL client on your Mac using Homebrew. We've also covered some additional configuration options and alternative ways to install MariaDB if desired. With these steps, you should be able to get started with working with MySQL databases on your Mac.

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