Can't upgrade mysql to 64 bit

Question

I have downloaded the DMG from the mysql website for the 64-bit install, and installed successfully. Yet after installation, when I run

mysql --version

I get:

mysql  Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.52, for apple-darwin10.3.0 (i386) using readline 5.1

Which seems to me to indicate the 32-bit version is installed. What gives?

Answer 1

In a nutshell, what gives is that your OS X kernel is running in 32-bit. Check using uname -m. See this SO answer. However, applications may run in 64-bit. Use file on your mysql binary. For example, a universal binary would come up as:

$ file /usr/bin/tar
/usr/bin/tar: Mach-O universal binary with 3 architectures
/usr/bin/tar (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
/usr/bin/tar (for architecture i386):   Mach-O executable i386
/usr/bin/tar (for architecture ppc7400):    Mach-O executable ppc

A 64-bit binary (installed using MacPorts):

$ file /opt/local/bin/python
/opt/local/bin/python: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64