> 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

Learn how to install the SphinxSE plugin in MariaDB and run tests to verify the connection between the database and the Sphinx daemon.

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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