Can't install old version of MySQL through apt-get

Question

I'm on Ubuntu 16.04 and I have MySQL 5.7 installed. I need to have 5.6 installed for a project I'm working on so I've tried deleting 5.7 and then using the official instructions but it keeps installing 5.7 instead of 5.6

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-apt-repo-quick-guide/en/#repo-qg-apt-select-series

I selected 5.6 when running sudo dpkg-reconfigure mysql-apt-config and then I run sudo apt-get install mysql-server but it immediately starts pulling down 5.7. I've run sudo apt-get update multiple times before and after.

If I run sudo apt-cache showpkg mysql-server I get the following (stuff removed for brevity):

Provides: 
5.7.13-0ubuntu0.16.04.2 - 
5.7.11-0ubuntu6 - 
5.6.32-1ubuntu16.04 -

Cool, so it looks like I can install 5.6.32 I guess? I try:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server=5.6.32

but then I get:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Version '5.6.32' for 'mysql-server' was not found

What am I doing wrong?

This seems like a generic Ubuntu question rather than a specific MySQL one, which is why I'm asking here.

Answer 1

Oh, it was another case of RTFM.

I needed to provide the full package name to make it work:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server=5.6.32-1ubuntu16.04