MySQLdb will only import for root

[martinnorth]

Hi,

I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If I
try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:

ActivePython 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>import MySQLdb

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named MySQLdb

But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import a
module.

Martin

[Diez B. Roggisch]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

martinnorth schrieb:

Hi,
>
I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If I
try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:
>
ActivePython 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>import MySQLdb

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named MySQLdb
>
But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import a
module.

Try importing sys and printing out sys.path both with a "normal" account
and the root-account, to see if there are any differences. And of course
make sure both actually use the same interpreter.

Beyond that, you are right: there is no root-only-importing.

Diez

[Jeff]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

Is it possible the module was installed with priviledges set too
strict? Perhaps the interpreter cannot see the module when it is run
from a normal user account.

[Peter Otten]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

martinnorth wrote:

Hi,
>
I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If I
try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:
>
ActivePython 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>import MySQLdb

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named MySQLdb
>
But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import a
module.

You have probably installed two versions of Python. You can verify that by
typing

$ which python

and

$ sudo which python

I suspect that root sees the python that comes with Ubuntu and that has
MySQLdb installed while the normal user sees ActiveState's Python.

Peter

[Diez B. Roggisch]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

Jeff schrieb:

Is it possible the module was installed with priviledges set too
strict? Perhaps the interpreter cannot see the module when it is run
from a normal user account.

Possible - certainly. Yet unrealistic, because usually root access is
*required* to system-wide install a package - thus the normal install
processes ensure proper rights.

Diez

[Jeffrey Froman]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

Diez B. Roggisch wrote:

>Is it possible the module was installed with priviledges set too
>strict?  Perhaps the interpreter cannot see the module when it is run
>from a normal user account.

>
Possible - certainly. Yet unrealistic, because usually root access is
required to system-wide install a package - thus the normal install
processes ensure proper rights.

According to the OP, it is root that *does* have access to MySQLdb and a
normal user that does not. It is a very realistic possibility to install
something as root to which normal users do not have access. Installation
scripts that assume a particular umask during install, for example, are
especial culprits.

I have noticed this problem myself with python modules that include compiled
C extensions, as MySQLdb does. However, in the case where the extension
module itself has incorrect permissions, the error would point to a missing
_mysql, rather than a missing MySQLdb.


Jeffrey

[martinnorth]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

Diez B. Roggisch wrote:

martinnorth schrieb:

>Hi,
>>
>I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If
>I try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:
>>
>ActivePython 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
>Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
>[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
>Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

> >>import MySQLdb

>Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
>ImportError: No module named MySQLdb
>>
>But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
>suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
>wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import
>a module.

>
Try importing sys and printing out sys.path both with a "normal" account
and the root-account, to see if there are any differences. And of course
make sure both actually use the same interpreter.
>
Beyond that, you are right: there is no root-only-importing.
>
Diez

Now that I look at, it appears it might not be the same interpreter.
When running python as root I get:

Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Apr 21 2008, 11:12:42)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

Which is completely different from when I'm a normal user (see original
post). And yes, sys.path is different.

Being somewhat new to python and linux, how would I go about fixing
this? How do I get a normal user to run the same interpreter? Is it to
do with my PATH?

Martin

[Peter Otten]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

martinnorth wrote:

Diez B. Roggisch wrote:

>martinnorth schrieb:

>>Hi,
>>>
>>I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If
>>I try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:
>>>
>>ActivePytho n 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
>>Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
>>[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
>>Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.
>> >>import MySQLdb
>>Traceback (most recent call last):
>> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
>>ImportError : No module named MySQLdb
>>>
>>But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
>>suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
>>wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import
>>a module.

>>
>Try importing sys and printing out sys.path both with a "normal" account
>and the root-account, to see if there are any differences. And of course
>make sure both actually use the same interpreter.
>>
>Beyond that, you are right: there is no root-only-importing.
>>
>Diez

>
Now that I look at, it appears it might not be the same interpreter.
When running python as root I get:
>
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Apr 21 2008, 11:12:42)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.
>
Which is completely different from when I'm a normal user (see original
post). And yes, sys.path is different.
>
Being somewhat new to python and linux, how would I go about fixing
this? How do I get a normal user to run the same interpreter? Is it to
do with my PATH?

Yes, you can either invoke the standard interpreter explicitly with

$ /usr/bin/python

or remove /the/path/to/activestate/python

from your PATH. (If you were just experimenting and don't really need
ActiveState I recommend that you remove it completely)

Peter

[martinnorth]

Re: MySQLdb will only import for root

Peter Otten wrote:

martinnorth wrote:
>

>Hi,
>>
>I am running Python and MySQL on Ubuntu and have installed MySQLdb. If I
>try to import MySQLdb I get the following error:
>>
>ActivePython 2.5.2.2 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
>Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Mar 27 2008, 16:42:08)
>[GCC 3.3.1 (SuSE Linux)] on linux2
>Type "help", "copyright" , "credits" or "license" for more information.

> >>import MySQLdb

>Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
>ImportError: No module named MySQLdb
>>
>But if I lrun python as the root user it imports fine. Can anyone
>suggest what might be wrong with the installation? Or is there nothing
>wrong? I haven't seen any examples that mentioned being root to import a
>module.

>
You have probably installed two versions of Python. You can verify that by
typing
>
$ which python
>
and
>
$ sudo which python
>
I suspect that root sees the python that comes with Ubuntu and that has
MySQLdb installed while the normal user sees ActiveState's Python.
>
Peter
>

Thanks Peter, that was it. Located the ActiveState directory and removed
it. Now the module imports for all users.

Martin