Setting, Changing And Resetting MySQL Root Passwords

This tutorial explains how you can set, change and reset (if you've forgotten the password) MySQL root passwords. Time and again I see problems like mysqladmin: connect to server at 'localhost' failed error: 'Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)'. So I thought it's time to remind you how to solve MySQL related password problems. If you are just looking for a quick fix how to reset a MySQL root password you can find that at the bottom of this tutorial.

How to allow remote connection to mysql

mysqladmin Command To Change Root Password

Method 1 - Set up root password for the first time

If you have never set a root password for MySQL, the server does not require a password at all for connecting as root. To set up a root password for the first time, use the mysqladmin command at the shell prompt as follows:

1

$ mysqladmin -u root password newpass

If you want to change (or update) a root password, then you need to use the following command:

1

$ mysqladmin -u root -p oldpassword newpass

1

Enter password:

If you get...

1
2
mysqladmin: connect to server at 'localhost' failed
error: 'Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)'

then follow the instructions below on how to recover your MySQL password.

Change MySQL password for other users

To change a normal user password you need to type:

1

$ mysqladmin -u user-name -p oldpassword newpass

Method 2 - Update or change password

MySQL stores usernames and passwords in the user table inside the MySQL database. You can directly update a password using the following method to update or change passwords:

  1. Login to the MySQL server, type the following command at the shell prompt:
    2. 1

    $ mysql -u root -p
  2. Use the mysql database (type commands at the mysql> prompt):
    3. 1

    mysql> use mysql;
  3. Change password for a user:
    4. 1

    mysql> update user set password=PASSWORD("newpass") where User='ENTER-USER-NAME-HERE';
  4. Reload privileges:
    5. 1
2
    mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit

This method you need to use while using PHP or Perl scripting.

Recover MySQL root password

You can recover a MySQL database server password with the following five easy steps:

Step # 1  : Stop the MySQL server process.

Step # 2  : Start the MySQL (mysqld) server/daemon process with the --skip-grant-tables option so that it will not prompt for a password.

Step # 3  : Connect to the MySQL server as the root user.

Step # 4  : Set a new root password.

Step # 5  : Exit and restart the MySQL server.

Here are the commands you need to type for each step (log in as the root user):

Step # 1  : Stop the MySQL service:

1

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop

Output:

1

Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.

Step # 2  : Start the MySQL server w/o password:

1

# mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

Output:

1
2
3
[1] 5988
Starting mysqld daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
mysqld_safe[6025]: started

Step # 3  : Connect to the MySQL server using the MySQL client:

1

# mysql -u root

Output:

1
2
3
4
5
6
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.1.15-Debian_1-log

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

Step # 4  : Set a new MySQL root user password:

1
2
3
4
mysql> use mysql;
mysql> update user set password=PASSWORD("NEW-ROOT-PASSWORD") where User='root';
mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit

Step # 5  : Stop the MySQL server:

1

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop

Output:

1
2
3
4
5
Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld
STOPPING server from pid file /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
mysqld_safe[6186]: ended

[1]+  Done                    mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

Start the MySQL server and test it:

1
2
# /etc/init.d/mysql start
# mysql -u root -p