If the root password for a MySQL server is lost, unknown or cannot be recovered it can be reset so long as you have root (Linux) or Local/Domain Admin (Windows) access on the MySQL server.

Procedure

  1. Locate your my.conf file - the MySQL configuration file. On Linux it is normally /etc/mysql/my.cnf and it can be located through typing locate my.cnf depnding on what distro you have.
  2. Stop the MySQL server: /etc/init.d/mysql stop

  3. Edit the my.cnf file and place the following line after the [mysqld] section: skip-grant-tables

  4. Start the MySQL server: /etc/init.d/mysql start
  5. Now you can connect without a password; all grant commands will not work though. Type the following:
    $ mysql -u root
    mysql> use mysql;
    mysql> update mysql.user set Password=password('newpassword') where User='root';\
  6. Stop the MySQL server: /etc/init.d/mysql stop
  7. Remove or comment-out the skip-grant-tables line.
  8. Start the MySQL server: /etc/init.d/mysql start

Category:MySQL