📘 Guide: Fixing netstat: command not found and MySQL Not Running in XAMPP (Linux)

🔴 Error 1: netstat: command not found

📝 Description

When you restart XAMPP, you see:

/opt/lampp/share/xampp/xampplib: line 22: netstat: command not found

📌 Cause

XAMPP scripts use netstat to check if services (Apache, MySQL, ProFTPD) are running. Modern Linux systems (like Ubuntu 20+, Debian 11+, etc.) do not install netstat by default. The netstat command is part of an older package called net-tools.

✅ Solution

You need to install net-tools.

📂 Command to Install net-tools

For Debian/Ubuntu systems:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install net-tools

For Red Hat/CentOS systems:

sudo yum install net-tools

🚀 After Installing

Restart XAMPP:

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp restart

🔴 Error 2: XAMPP: Stopping MySQL...not running.

📝 Description

You also see:

XAMPP: Stopping MySQL...not running.

📌 Cause

This usually happens when:

• MySQL was never started successfully.
• There is a configuration issue.
• There is a problem with MySQL data files.
• MySQL port (3306) is already in use.

✅ Solution 1: Check MySQL Logs

XAMPP logs MySQL errors in:

/opt/lampp/var/mysql/<hostname>.err

Example Command

cat /opt/lampp/var/mysql/$(hostname).err

Common Errors

• Port 3306 in use.
• InnoDB corruption.
• Missing configuration files.

✅ Solution 2: Check Running MySQL Process

Sometimes MySQL from system installation (outside XAMPP) might be running.

Check using:

sudo systemctl status mysql

If the system MySQL is running, it can block XAMPP MySQL from starting.

To Stop System MySQL

sudo systemctl stop mysql

✅ Solution 3: Start XAMPP MySQL Manually

You can try starting MySQL directly:

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp startmysql

If it still fails, check logs again.

✅ Solution 4: Check XAMPP MySQL Port

Ensure MySQL is set to use port 3306 (or change if needed) in:

/opt/lampp/etc/my.cnf

✅ Solution 5: Fix Permissions (if needed)

Sometimes XAMPP MySQL fails due to permission issues. You can set proper permissions:

sudo chown -R mysql:mysql /opt/lampp/var/mysql/
sudo chmod -R 755 /opt/lampp/var/mysql/

🛠️ Example Full Workflow

1️⃣ Install net-tools

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install net-tools

2️⃣ Stop System MySQL (if running)

sudo systemctl stop mysql

3️⃣ Restart XAMPP

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp restart

4️⃣ Check MySQL Logs (if MySQL still fails)

cat /opt/lampp/var/mysql/$(hostname).err

📌 Final Tip

If MySQL data directory is corrupted or you’re setting up a fresh instance, you can reset MySQL data directory (be careful, this will erase all databases).

sudo mv /opt/lampp/var/mysql /opt/lampp/var/mysql_backup
sudo mkdir /opt/lampp/var/mysql
sudo /opt/lampp/lampp startmysql

This forces MySQL to recreate the system tables. Only do this if you are sure your data is backed up.

📚 Full Error + Solution Summary Table