Uninstall/reinstall MySQL on Ubuntu Server

; Useful set of instructions to
; remove and reinstall MySQL server
; on an Ubuntu server

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get remove mysql-server mysql-server-5.1
sudo apt-get autoremove && sudo apt-get autoclean
If it hangs again, just kill all dpkg processes and run the three command again.

; Reboot at this point if possible
; (not absolutely essential)

sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client
sudo mysql_upgrade --force -u root -purpassword

; Credit to Memet on the Ubuntu Forums
; http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1535020