Install mysql-server 5.7 instead of mysql-server 8.0 on an ubuntu 19.10 machine

Question

I have some trouble installing mysql-server 5.7 on ubuntu 19.10 (eoan) machine. Unfortunately I'm bound to mysql-server version 5.6/5.7 so just installing mysql-server 8.0 is no option.

According to earlier attempts on earlier ubuntu versions I added the mysql repository for mysql-server 5.7. This results in:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/mysql.list

### THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURED ###
# You may comment out entries below, but any other modifications may be lost.
# Use command 'dpkg-reconfigure mysql-apt-config' as root for modifications.
deb http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu/ bionic mysql-apt-config
deb http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu/ bionic mysql-5.7
deb http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu/ bionic mysql-tools
# deb http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu/ bionic mysql-tools-preview
deb-src http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu/ bionic mysql-5.7

After doing this I run the command(s) below.

sudo apt update

....
Hit:1 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu bionic InRelease
....

after updating all the repos on my machine I run the command to install the mysql-server 5.7.

sudo apt install mysql-server

.....
The following additional packages will be installed:
mysql-client-8.0 mysql-client-core-8.0 mysql-server-8.0 mysql-server-core-8.0

As you can see from the output above ubuntu is still trying to install the mysql-server 8.0 version. This is NOT what I need.

I also tried to install mysql-server 5.7 manually by downloading the .deb files but this resulted in an dependency chaos which where unable to install.

Below I listed the content of /etc/apt/sources.list, I installed Ubuntu 19.10 by doing a serie of dist-upgrades commands. (as you can see from the lines that are commented out.)

TL;DR

I am unable to install mysql-server 5.7 at a ubuntu 19.10 machine (installed 19.10 by doing a serie of dist upgrade commands.). I added mysql 5.7 repo and ran the update command, still no luck. Ubuntu still tries to install mysql-server 8.0.

Does anybody have a suggestion to prevent mysql-server 8.0 from being installed and install mysql 5.7 instead (I am required to install mysql 5.6/5.7 I cannot use mysql-server 8.0)

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan main restricted
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan-updates main restricted
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan universe
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful universe
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan-updates universe
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan multiverse
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful multiverse
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan-updates multiverse
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates multiverse

## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ eoan-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu artful partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu artful partner

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan-security main restricted
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan-security universe
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan-security multiverse
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful-security multiverse

Solution

I found the following solution to install mysql-server 5.7 on ubuntu 19.10.

1. configure apt to include the mysql repository for mysql 5.7, see: mysql-apt-config_0.8.12-1_all.deb, you can follow the same instructions found here: MySQL APT repository configuration, make sure when running mysql-apt-config-0.8.12-1_all.deb you select the MySQL 5.7 version.

2. Make sure to run sudo apt update. after running this command run the command: sudo apt policy mysql-server.

The output should look very similar to the output listed below:

  Installed: None
  Candidate: 8.0.17-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
     8.0.17-0ubuntu2 500
        500 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu eoan/main i386 Packages
     5.7.28-1ubuntu18.04 500
        500 http://repo.mysql.com/apt/ubuntu bionic/mysql-5.7 amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

The output below is now listing two versions of the mysql-server package. The default candidate version for ubuntu 19.10 is mysql-server 8.0.17-0ubuntu2.

The second package is the package from the newly added repository above. for me, this is mysql-server 5.7.28-1ubuntu18.04

3. To install another version of the mysql-server package (other than the default candidate) I run the following command:

sudo apt install mysql-server=<version-tag>

Example:

sudo apt install mysql-server=5.7.28-1ubuntu18.04

First, this raised a dependency issue for the package mysql-client, but I fixed this by following the same instructions from step 2 for the mysql-client package.

Comments

[Beach Chicken]

Thanks for your comments, still no luck. E: Package 'mysql-client-5.7' has no installation candidate E: Package 'mysql-client-core-5.7' has no installation candidate E: Package 'mysql-server-5.7' has no installation candidate E: Package 'mysql-server-core-5.7' has no installation candidate

[David O'Meara]

succeeded with some tweaks or gotchas: 1) backup data first I had lingering mysql 8 stuff so apt purge mysql-* first 2) the only version of mysql-apt-config was 0.8.14 which only allowed mysql 8. I was able to download 0.8.12 by replacing the download link 3) the mysql 5.7 candidate is on the 'bionic' 18.04 list so when prompted, do not select any other Ubuntu version. Finally, I kept forgetting apt update after adding mysql-apt-config package, but hopefully that's just me.