Server errors can sometimes be confusing.

One such error is “mysqladmin command not found”, when you’re sure MySQL is installed on your server.

Why it shows command not found all the time? I’m sure that MySQL is installed on my server.

At Bobcares we resolve such queries as part of our Support Services for web hosts.

Today, we’ll discuss the top 2 reasons for this error and how we fix them.

mysqladmin ‘command not found’ error – What is this?

Before we go to the reasons for this error, let’s see more about this error first.

Simply put, a command not found error means that system searched for the command wherever it knew, but couldn’t find a program with that name.

Similarly, when users invoke mysqladmin command from the terminal, the command interpreter can’t find the program by that name.

As a result, it displays the error ‘mysqladmin command not found‘.

However, this error doesn’t mean that the program is not installed on the system. It may mean you didn’t give enough information to find the program.

mysqladmin ‘command not found’ error – Causes and Fixes

Now, let’s see the main reasons for this error and how our Support Engineers fix them.

1) Typo in command name

One of the common reasons for this error is the incorrect command name, or typo in the command name.

Website owners usually make typo errors while issuing mysqladmin commands, and often come up with this error ‘command not found’.

# mysqladmi -u root
-bash: mysqladmi: command not found

Similarly, this error may be triggered by syntax errors in the commands.

Solution

In Linux systems, all commands are case sensitive and it will throw errors if not spelled correctly.

So, our Support Engineers check the command name and confirm that there are no typo errors made on the command line.

In addition to that, we check the syntax of the command and ensure that it’s correct.

[Are you stuck with MySQL errors in your website? Our Server Administrators can help you here.]

2) MySQL installation path not set

Usually, all command files of programs are stored in /usr/bin, /bin or /us/local/bin locations.

And, these locations are stored in the global variable $PATH.

So, when users execute a command, the terminal checks this global variable to find the location of command files.

Ideally, all programs automatically update the PATH variable with the location of commands, upon installation. But, sometimes MySQL doesn’t do it upon install.

As a result, when users invoke mysqladmin command, the interpreter can’t find this command and shows the error “mysqladmin command not found“.

Solution

Generally, MySQL places binary files in  /usr/local/mysql/bin location.

Users can get rid of this error by running mysqladmin command with the complete path name.

But, typing the long path name every time becomes a tiresome job. So, we need a more better solution.

Hence, our Support Engineers always suggest that users update the MySQL installation directory in the PATH variable.

As a result, when users invoke mysqladmin command from any directory, terminal will be able to find it.

For example, we update the location of MySQL commands in the PATH variable with the below command.

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/mysql/bin/

This concatenates the value /usr/local/mysql/bin/ with the older value of $PATH.

Sometimes, users want this to be run every time when they open the terminal.

In such cases, our Support Engineers recommend to add the above line in .bash_profile. Therefore, it will load every time you open the terminal.

 [Need help fixing this annoying error? Our MySQL experts are available 24/7. ]

Conclusion

In short, mysqladmin command not found error may occur due to typo in mysqladmin command, syntax errors, and more. Today, we’ve discussed the top 2 reasons for this error and how ourSupport Engineers fix them.