The main issue here stems from package conflicts between the standard CentOS MySQL packages and third-party MySQL-server packages. The error -bash: mysql: command not found occurs because while the server components are installed, the MySQL client package is missing.

From your rpm -qa | grep -i mysql output, we can see:

MySQL-server-5.1.48-1.glibc23
perl-DBD-MySQL-3.0007-2.el5
php-mysql-5.1.6-27.el5_5.3
MySQL-devel-5.1.48-1.glibc23

The key missing component is the MySQL client utilities.

First, let's clean up the existing installations:

# Remove all MySQL packages completely
sudo yum remove MySQL-server MySQL-devel
sudo yum remove mysql mysql-server mysql-devel

Now install the complete MySQL stack from CentOS base repos:

# Install standard CentOS 5 MySQL packages
sudo yum --disablerepo=smartfile install mysql mysql-server mysql-devel

After installation, verify all components:

# Check installed packages
rpm -qa | grep -i mysql

# Verify mysql client is available
which mysql
mysql --version

# Check server status
sudo service mysqld status

# Secure the installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Start MySQL on boot
sudo chkconfig mysqld on

# Verify service starts
sudo service mysqld restart

If mysql client is still missing, explicitly install it:

# Install just the client package
sudo yum install mysql

Or alternatively, install the MySQL client from the community repo:

# For CentOS 5
sudo yum install MySQL-client-5.1.48-1.glibc23

Important MySQL files in CentOS 5:

• Config: /etc/my.cnf
• Error logs: /var/log/mysqld.log
• Data directory: /var/lib/mysql
• Sock file: /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock

If you specifically need MySQL 5.1 features, consider these options:

# Option 1: Install from MySQL official repos
sudo rpm -Uvh http://repo.mysql.com/mysql-community-release-el5-7.noarch.rpm
sudo yum install mysql-community-server mysql-community-client

# Option 2: Use MariaDB instead
sudo yum install mariadb mariadb-server

---

After installing MySQL on CentOS 5 using yum install mysql mysql-server mysql-devel, I encountered several issues:

• The mysqld service couldn't be found in /etc/init.d/
• The mysql client binary was missing despite successful installation
• Package conflicts between mysql and MySQL-server packages

The key issue stems from package naming conventions in CentOS 5. The output from rpm -qa | grep -i mysql shows:

MySQL-server-5.1.48-1.glibc23
perl-DBD-MySQL-3.0007-2.el5
php-mysql-5.1.6-27.el5_5.3
MySQL-devel-5.1.48-1.glibc23

Notice how the packages are named MySQL-server instead of mysql-server. This is because the official MySQL packages use different naming conventions than the CentOS repositories.

First, completely remove all MySQL packages:

# yum remove MySQL-server MySQL-devel
# rm -rf /var/lib/mysql
# rm -rf /etc/my.cnf

Then install using the correct package names:

# yum --disablerepo=smartfile install mysql mysql-server mysql-devel

The --disablerepo=smartfile flag ensures we use CentOS's default repositories instead of third-party ones causing conflicts.

After installation, verify all components:

# rpm -qa | grep -i mysql
mysql-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6
mysql-server-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6
mysql-devel-5.0.77-4.el5_6.6

Start the service:

# service mysqld start
# chkconfig mysqld on

If the mysql command still isn't available, explicitly install the client:

# yum install mysql-client

Or locate the binary manually:

# find / -name mysql -type f 2>/dev/null
/usr/bin/mysql

Add it to your PATH if necessary:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin

If the package conflicts persist, consider manual installation:

1. Download the RPMs from MySQL's site:

wget https://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-5.1/MySQL-server-5.1.73-1.glibc23.x86_64.rpm
wget https://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-5.1/MySQL-client-5.1.73-1.glibc23.x86_64.rpm

2. Install them:

rpm -ivh MySQL-server-5.1.73-1.glibc23.x86_64.rpm
rpm -ivh MySQL-client-5.1.73-1.glibc23.x86_64.rpm

3. Initialize the database:

mysql_install_db
chown -R mysql:mysql /var/lib/mysql