Unable to locate package mysql-server

Question

I installed ubuntu 16.04, after that when i try to install mysql it shows error as

$ sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for mcerc: 
Reading package lists... Done
mcerc@mcerc-ThinkCentre-M72e:~$ sudo apt-get install mysql
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package mysql
mcerc@mcerc-ThinkCentre-M72e:~$ sudo apt-get install mysql-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package mysql-server
mcerc@mcerc-ThinkCentre-M72e:~$ ^C
mcerc@mcerc-ThinkCentre-M72e:~$ 

Answer 1

Whenever u install fresh Ubuntu , you need to update and upgrade the system to install from ubuntu repositories.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Now install anything

 sudo apt-get install mysql-server

Answer 2

• First, goto Ubuntu Software and in the menu there will be the option Ubuntu Software. Select it.
• There, you will Softwares and Updates. Select it. Check if all the official repositories (under the option Ubuntu Software) are checked. If not then check them.
• Else use the following command for installing mysql-server sudo apt install mysql-server-5.7. This should work.

UPDATE: Ubuntu Software tab is moved to Software & Update, a separate application in Ubuntu 18.04

Answer 3

Your problem : mysql-server maybe was installed once and the settings in your machine might be saved somewhere . Remove it completely with .

Uninstall mysql-server first:

sudo apt-get remove --purge mysql-server 

install it again. Run this command:

sudo apt-get install mysql-server

This also help to fix broken packages, so if these commands above failed tried to fix packages first and then remove and install the mysql-server:

sudo apt-get -f install

Answer 4

Thank you for this. I had an issue installing openssh-server on my Ubuntu 16. I tried above solution and it installs openssh-server successfully. Here is what I tries:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get remove --purge openssh-server 
sudo apt-get install openssh-server 
sudo apt-get -f install

Hope this will help someone.