I just installed Debian 3.0r3 and am in the process of getting mysql, apache and php up and running. This is my first crack at debian, coming from RH9.

I want to install mysql 4.1, and the only way seems to be via rpm's. I ran alien to convert the rpm's to debian deb files. I am assuming this is the correct way to do this. Anyway, I get the follow errors:

...
dpkg-gencontrol: warning: unknown substitution variable ${shlibs:Depends}
dh_md5sums
dh_builddeb
dpkg-deb: conffile `/etc/my.cnf' does not appear in package
dpkg-deb: building package `mysql-server' in `../mysql-server_4.1.7-1_i386.deb'.
dh_builddeb: command returned error code
make: *** [binary-arch] Error 1

Is something not installed correctly?
Is this the right way to get mysql 4.1 installed?
Is this the right wat to install a rpm in general?
Is there a way to tell what version of a app apt-get is installing? I need to install the latest apache and php4. It's hard to tell what version they want to install.

Thanks, Kippy

1st, why are you using 3.0r3? It's old, outdated and mainly used for servers that need to be extremely stable.

I suggest using "testing" which is very close to becoming the current "stable" version of debian. Testing has never crashed for me, and I had a server running for 45 days until i had a power outage.

to update to testing run this (as root):
#echo deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list
#apt-get update
#apt-get upgrade
#apt-get dist-upgrade

Debian testing has mysql 4.0 available. If you need 4.1, you can find debian packages for it in experimental (or here: http://packages.debian.org/experimen...c/mysql-client)

Thanks. I'm sorry to ask beginner questions here, but when I download the mysql-client_4.1.5-1_i386.deb file and try to install it, I get a whole list of dependencies that are missing.

...
mysql-client depends on libc6 (>= 2.3.2.ds1-4); however:
Version of libc6 on system is 2.2.5-11.5.
...

Do I have to hunt them all down one-by-one, or am I doing something wrong?

mysql 4.1 is the latest release version (on mysql.com), and I noticed that the "debian stable" version of apache is 1.3, not 2.0, which has been out for over a year.

Is there a way for apt-get to get at these packages using the smart dependency that is built into it? Or is apt-get only going to download out of date packages?

Thanks, Kippy

I tried to upgrade, as you suggested, and I got the following errors:

...
Reading Package Lists... Error!
E: Dynamic MMap ran out of room
E: Error occured while processing plotutils (NewVersion1)
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.debian.org_debian_dists_testing_main_binary-i386_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I'm so confused.

It seems like it's incredibly difficult to get the latest versions of things installed on debian. What am I doing wrong? Or is there some source someone can point me to help me with this. All the online tutorials just say use apt-get, they never go into installing "testing" and "experiential" versions, but it seems that if you really want to up-to-date apps, you need to be installing them.

Thanks, Kippy

how big is your debian partition? i think you are running out of room.

if you wouldn't object to reinstalling debian (don't worry this installer is easy, i promise), i suggest you download the netinstaller cd:
http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimag...86-netinst.iso

If you're referring to this error:

E: Dynamic MMap ran out of room

I resolved that by adding

APT::Cache-Limit 10000000 to apt-config

I'm very slowly working through all the other problems. apt-get is a little confusing as to where and what version of packages it downloads. I got mysql 4.1 installed, but am getting mutex errors when I try and run it.

mysqld[2929]: 041031 11:27:12 [ERROR] bdb: unable to initialize mutex: Function not implemented
mysqld[2929]: 041031 11:27:12 [ERROR] bdb: process-private: unable to initialize environment lock: Function not implemented
mysqld[2929]: 041031 11:27:12 [ERROR] Can't init databases
mysqld[2929]: 041031 11:27:12 [ERROR] Aborting

I've noticed a couple of other people are having the exact same problem.

did you install mysql 4.0 first? did 4.0 work?

No, I went straigt to 4.1. I have seen another post on another forum where someone is having the same problem I am, and they went from 4.0 to 4.1. 4.0 worked fine.