Resetting the MySQL root password the dirty way

Posted by digo on September 12, 2011 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

It happens to me quite often that I forget the root password of a MySQL-setup. In that case, a dirty way to reset the root user's password is to stop the database and run it with "--skip-grant-tables". This enables anyone to connect without a password and with all privileges which is certainly not recommended for regular use. After changing the password, the database is supposed to be restarted with regular settings.

The following lines document the actual doing. Remember to replace NEW_PASSWORD in the last line with your new one:

service mysql stop
mysqld --skip-grant-tables &
mysql -u root mysql
UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('NEW_PASSWORD') WHERE User='root'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit;
ps ax|grep mysqld | awk '{print $1}'|xargs kill -9
service mysql start
CLI Tricks, Linux

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