> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/sphinx-storage-engine/installing-and-testing-sphinxse-with-mariadb.md).

# Installing and Testing SphinxSE with MariaDB

To use [SphinxSE](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/sphinx-storage-engine.md) with MariaDB you need to first [download and install Sphinx](/docs/server/server-usage/storage-engines/sphinx-storage-engine/installing-sphinx.md).

Complete Sphinx documentation is available on the [Sphinx website](https://sphinxsearch.com/docs/).

## Tips for Installing Sphinx

### libexpat

One library we know you will need on Linux before you can install Sphinx is `libexpat`. If it is not installed, you will get the warning `checking for libexpat... not found`. On Suse Linux, the package is called `libexpat-devel`, on Ubuntu the package is called `libexpat1-dev`.

### MariaDB detection

If you run into problems with MariaDB not being detected, use the following options:

```
--with-mysql            compile with MySQL support (default is enabled)
 --with-mysql-includes   path to MySQL header files
 --with-mysql-libs       path to MySQL libraries
```

The above will tell the `configure` script where your MySQL/MariaDB installation is.

## Testing Sphinx

After installing Sphinx, you can check that things are working in MariaDB by doing the following:

```bash
cd installation-dir/mysql-test
./mysql-test-run --suite=sphinx
```

If the above test doesn't pass, check the logs in the `'var'` directory. If there is a problem with the sphinx installation, the reason can probably be found in the log file at `var/log/sphinx.sphinx/searchd/sphinx.log`.

<sub>*This page is licensed: CC BY-SA / Gnu FDL*</sub>

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