Is it possible to install MySQL 5.5 or 5.6 on Ubuntu 16.04?

Step by step guide* to install mysql 5.5.x on Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial-Xerus. Please see this documentation

OR

See steps below:

Installing MySQL 5.5.51 on Ubuntu 16.06

  1. Uninstall any existing version of MySQL

    sudo rm /var/lib/mysql/ -R
    
  2. Delete the MySQL profile

    sudo rm /etc/mysql/ -R
    
  3. Automatically uninstall mysql

    sudo apt-get autoremove mysql* --purge
    sudo apt-get remove apparmor
    
  4. Download version 5.5.51 from MySQL site

    wget https://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-5.5/mysql-5.5.56-linux-glibc2.5-x86_64.tar.gz
    
  5. Add mysql user group

    sudo groupadd mysql
    
  6. Add mysql (not the current user) to mysql user group

    sudo useradd -g  mysql mysql
    
  7. Extract mysql-5.5.51-linux2.6-x86_64.tar.gz to /usr/local

    cd /usr/local
    sudo tar -xvf mysql-5.5.49-linux2.6-x86_64.tar.gz
    
  8. Create mysql folder in /usr/local

    sudo mv mysql-5.5.49-linux2.6-x86_64 mysql
    
  9. Set mysql directory owner and user group

    cd mysql
    sudo chown -R mysql:mysql *
    
  10. Install the required lib package

    sudo apt-get install libaio1
    
  11. Execute mysql installation script

    sudo scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql
    
  12. Set mysql directory owner from outside the mysql directory

    sudo chown -R root .
    
  13. Set data directory owner from inside mysql directory

    sudo chown -R mysql data
    
  14. Copy the mysql configuration file

    sudo cp support-files/my-medium.cnf /etc/my.cnf 
    
  15. Start mysql

    sudo bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &
    sudo cp support-files/mysql.server /etc/init.d/mysql.server
    
  16. Initialize root user password

    sudo bin/mysqladmin -u root password '111111'
    
  17. Start mysql server

    sudo /etc/init.d/mysql.server start
    
  18. Stop mysql server

    sudo /etc/init.d/mysql.server stop
    
  19. Check status of mysql

    sudo /etc/init.d/mysql.server status
    
  20. Enable myql on startup

    sudo update-rc.d -f mysql.server defaults 
    
  21. Disable mysql on startup (Optional)

    sudo update-rc.d -f mysql.server remove
    
  22. Add mysql path to the system

    sudo ln -s /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql /usr/local/bin/mysql
    
  23. Now directly use the command below to start mysql

    mysql -u root -p 
    

PS: One needs to reboot in order for the changes to take place.

Based on a Chinese blog


Try this, First you have to remove

sudo rm /var/lib/mysql/debian-5.7.flag

then

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty universe'
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install mysql-server-5.6
sudo apt install mysql-client-5.6

This answer helped me figure out how to do it by downloading the .deb packages from MySQL dev site. The solution about adding the PPA did not do it for me.

It links to a blogpost: How to Install MySQL-5-6 on Ubuntu Precise Tricky but it works.