How to implement a portable MySQL and connect to it from Ruby as a non-root under Linux

The key limitation for me is I am a non-root. I can do things only under my own space without any sudo permissions.

So I have to implement a portable MySQL and connect it from the mysql gem. But how to config for the mysql gem? While using gem to install it(I have already changed the GEM_HOME), it keeps showing:

Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of
necessary libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more
details.  You may need configuration options.

Provided configuration options:
    --with-opt-dir
    --without-opt-dir
    --with-opt-include
    --without-opt-include=${opt-dir}/include
    --with-opt-lib
    --without-opt-lib=${opt-dir}/l开发者_高级运维ib
    --with-make-prog
    --without-make-prog
    --srcdir=.
    --curdir
    --ruby=/usr/local/bin/ruby
    --with-mysql-config
    --without-mysql-config
    --with-mysql-dir
    --without-mysql-dir
    --with-mysql-include
    --without-mysql-include=${mysql-dir}/include
    --with-mysql-lib
    --without-mysql-lib=${mysql-dir}/lib
    --with-mysqlclientlib
    --without-mysqlclientlib
    --with-mlib
    --without-mlib
    --with-mysqlclientlib
    --without-mysqlclientlib
    --with-zlib
    --without-zlib
    --with-mysqlclientlib
    --without-mysqlclientlib
    --with-socketlib

But can anyone tell me how to use the configuration options? My local mysql is under ~/mysql

why don't you switch to SQLite ? it allows connections to a file, no compilation needed.