installing/upgrading Python + MySQLdb on Mac OS X

I've been working on a project that required the use of the urllib2.urlopen that takes a 3rd argument to indicate the guard timeout to break the blocking on an unresponsive socket. Alas this handy feature is only available in the versions of Python starting with 2.6. As Leopard comes with 2.5, I was faced with the prospect of upgrading to 2.6, hopefully without breaking existent functionality.

First step is to see where Python is installed by default:
which python
yields
/usr/bin/python
and
ls -l /usr/bin/python
yields
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 72 21 Feb 2008 /usr/bin/python -> ../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/python

So there are the goodies. Good to know.


Next download Python for Mac from here.
Unpack and run
python setup.py build:
Traceback (most recent call last)
File "setup.py", line 5, in
from setuptools import setup, Extension
ImportError: No module named setuptools

BUMMER !

Go to http://pypi.python.org/packages/2.6/s/setuptools/ and download the current .egg version. I got a setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg.sh.

Ok, now I do:
chmod u+x ./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg.sh
./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg.sh
to get greeted by
./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg.sh is not the correct name for this egg file.
Please rename it back to setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg and try again.

Fine,
mv ./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg.sh ./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg
./setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg

Processing setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg
Copying setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg to /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages
Adding setuptools 0.6c9 to easy-install.pth file
Installing easy_install script to /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin
Installing easy_install-2.6 script to /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin

Installed /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages/setuptools-0.6c9-py2.6.egg
Processing dependencies for setuptools==0.6c9
Finished processing dependencies for setuptools==0.6c9

And we give it another try:

python setup.py build

yields

running build
running build_py
creating build
creating build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6
copying _mysql_exceptions.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6
creating build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/__init__.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/converters.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/connections.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/cursors.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/release.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
copying MySQLdb/times.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
creating build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/__init__.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/CR.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/FIELD_TYPE.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/ER.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/FLAG.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/REFRESH.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
copying MySQLdb/constants/CLIENT.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants
running build_ext
building '_mysql' extension
creating build/temp.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6
gcc -isysroot /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -dynamic -DNDEBUG -g -O3 -Dversion_info=(1,2,3,'gamma',1) -D__version__=1.2.3c1 -I/usr/local/mysql/include -I/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/include/python2.6 -c _mysql.c -o build/temp.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql.o -Os -arch i386 -fno-common
gcc -arch ppc -arch i386 -isysroot /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk -g -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup build/temp.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql.o -L/usr/local/mysql/lib -lmysqlclient_r -lz -lm -o build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql.so
ld warning: in build/temp.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql.o, file is not of required architecture
ld warning: in /usr/local/mysql/lib/libmysqlclient_r.dylib, file is not of required architecture

I think the 2 warnings have to do with the "-arch ppc" in the 2nd invocation of gcc, but given that we also have the "-arch i386" there we're probably OK.

Next

sudo python setup.py install

Password:
running install
running bdist_egg
running egg_info
writing MySQL_python.egg-info/PKG-INFO
writing top-level names to MySQL_python.egg-info/top_level.txt
writing dependency_links to MySQL_python.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
reading manifest file 'MySQL_python.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
writing manifest file 'MySQL_python.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
installing library code to build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg
running install_lib
running build_py
copying MySQLdb/release.py -> build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb
running build_ext
creating build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat
creating build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql.so -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/_mysql_exceptions.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg
creating build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/__init__.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/connections.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
creating build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/__init__.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/CLIENT.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/CR.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/ER.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/FIELD_TYPE.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/FLAG.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/constants/REFRESH.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/converters.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/cursors.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/release.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
copying build/lib.macosx-10.3-fat-2.6/MySQLdb/times.py -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/_mysql_exceptions.py to _mysql_exceptions.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/__init__.py to __init__.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/connections.py to connections.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/__init__.py to __init__.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/CLIENT.py to CLIENT.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/CR.py to CR.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/ER.py to ER.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/FIELD_TYPE.py to FIELD_TYPE.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/FLAG.py to FLAG.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/constants/REFRESH.py to REFRESH.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/converters.py to converters.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/cursors.py to cursors.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/release.py to release.pyc
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/MySQLdb/times.py to times.pyc
creating stub loader for _mysql.so
byte-compiling build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/_mysql.py to _mysql.pyc
creating build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO
copying MySQL_python.egg-info/PKG-INFO -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO
copying MySQL_python.egg-info/SOURCES.txt -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO
copying MySQL_python.egg-info/dependency_links.txt -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO
copying MySQL_python.egg-info/top_level.txt -> build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO
writing build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg/EGG-INFO/native_libs.txt
zip_safe flag not set; analyzing archive contents...
creating dist
creating 'dist/MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg' and adding 'build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg' to it
removing 'build/bdist.macosx-10.3-fat/egg' (and everything under it)
Processing MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg
Copying MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg to /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages
Adding MySQL-python 1.2.3c1 to easy-install.pth file

Installed /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages/MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg
Processing dependencies for MySQL-python==1.2.3c1
Finished processing dependencies for MySQL-python==1.2.3c1

Looks good. Let's try it:

python
Python 2.6.2 (r262:71600, Apr 16 2009, 09:17:39)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import MySQLdb
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages/MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg/_mysql.py:3: UserWarning: Module _mysql was already imported from /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages/MySQL_python-1.2.3c1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg/_mysql.pyc, but /Users/bhapca/Downloads/MySQL-python-1.2.3c1 is being added to sys.path

huh ?

>>> dir(MySQLdb)
['BINARY', 'Binary', 'Connect', 'Connection', 'DATE', 'DATETIME', 'DBAPISet', 'DataError', 'DatabaseError', 'Date', 'DateFromTicks', 'Error', 'FIELD_TYPE', 'IntegrityError', 'InterfaceError', 'InternalError', 'MySQLError', 'NULL', 'NUMBER', 'NotSupportedError', 'OperationalError', 'ProgrammingError', 'ROWID', 'STRING', 'TIME', 'TIMESTAMP', 'Time', 'TimeFromTicks', 'Timestamp', 'TimestampFromTicks', 'Warning', '__all__', '__author__', '__builtins__', '__doc__', '__file__', '__name__', '__package__', '__path__', '__revision__', '__version__', '_mysql', 'apilevel', 'connect', 'connection', 'constants', 'debug', 'escape', 'escape_dict', 'escape_sequence', 'escape_string', 'get_client_info', 'paramstyle', 'release', 'result', 'server_end', 'server_init', 'string_literal', 'test_DBAPISet_set_equality', 'test_DBAPISet_set_equality_membership', 'test_DBAPISet_set_inequality', 'test_DBAPISet_set_inequality_membership', 'thread_safe', 'threadsafety', 'times', 'version_info']
>>>

Seems OK I guess.

Bottom line. The steps above seem to result in 2 different versions of Python coexisting side by side, one that came from Apple in

/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/bin/python

and the one I installed in

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/bin/python