4.3 Installing Connector/Python from a Source Distribution

Connector/Python source distributions are platform independent and can be used on any platform. Source distributions are packaged in two formats:

Zip archive format (.zip file)
Compressed tar archive format (.tar.gz file)

Either packaging format can be used on any platform, but Zip archives are more commonly used on Windows systems and tar archives on Unix and Unix-like systems.

Prerequisites for Compiling Connector/Python with the C Extension

Source distributions include the C Extension that interfaces with the MySQL C client library. You can build the distribution with or without support for this extension. To build Connector/Python with support for the C Extension, you must satisfy the following prerequisites.

Note

Python 2.7 support was removed in Connector/Python 8.0.24, and Python 3.7 support was removed in Connector/Python 8.1.0.

Linux: A C/C++ compiler, such as gcc
Windows: Current version of Visual Studio
Protobuf C++ (version >= 4.21.1,<=4.21.12) for the C extension and/or Python's protobuf package for the pure Python implementation
Python development files
MySQL Server installed, including development files to compile the optional C Extension that interfaces with the MySQL C client library

You must install MySQL Server if it is not already present on your system. To obtain it, visit the MySQL download site.

Installing Connector/Python from Source on Microsoft Windows

A Connector/Python Zip archive (.zip file) is available from the Connector/Python download site (see Section 4.1, “Obtaining Connector/Python”).

To install Connector/Python from a Zip archive, download the latest version and follow these steps:

Unpack the Zip archive in the intended installation directory (for example, C:\mysql-connector\) using WinZip or another tool that can read .zip files.
Start a console window and change location to the folder where you unpacked the Zip archive:
```
$> cd C:\mysql-connector\
```
Inside the Connector/Python folder, perform the installation using this command:
```
$> python setup.py install
```
To include the C Extension (available as of Connector/Python 2.1.1), use this command instead:
```
$> python setup.py install --with-mysql-capi="path_name"
```
The argument to --with-mysql-capi is the path to the installation directory of MySQL Server.

To see all options and commands supported by setup.py, use this command:

$> python setup.py --help

Installing Connector/Python from Source on Unix and Unix-Like Systems

For Unix and Unix-like systems such as Linux, Solaris, macOS, and FreeBSD, a Connector/Python tar archive (.tar.gz file) is available from the Connector/Python download site (see Section 4.1, “Obtaining Connector/Python”).

To install Connector/Python from a tar archive, download the latest version (denoted here as VER), and execute these commands:

$> tar xzf mysql-connector-python-VER.tar.gz
$> cd mysql-connector-python-VER

$> sudo python setup.py install \
--with-protobuf-include-dir=/dir/to/protobuf/include \
--with-protobuf-lib-dir=/dir/to/protobuf/lib \
--with-protoc=/path/to/protoc/binary

To include the C Extension (available as of Connector/Python 2.1.1) that interfaces with the MySQL C client library, also add the --with-mysql-capi such as:

$> sudo python setup.py install \
  --with-protobuf-include-dir=/dir/to/protobuf/include \
  --with-protobuf-lib-dir=/dir/to/protobuf/lib \
  --with-protoc=/path/to/protoc/binary \
  --with-mysql-capi="path_name

The argument to --with-mysql-capi is the path to the installation directory of MySQL Server, or the path to the mysql_config command.

To see all options and commands supported by setup.py, use this command:

$> python setup.py --help