How to change the mysql root password

Question

I have installed MySQL server 5 on redhat linux. I can\'t login as root so I can\'t change the root password.

mysql -u root -p  
Enter password:  

        

Answer 1

One option is to save UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('newpass') WHERE User='root'; into a file and then manually start mysqld with --init-file=FILENAME. Once the server starts, it should reset your password, and then you should be able to log in. After this, you should shut down the server and start it normally.

Answer 2

Remove the -p from your command. -p forces the prompt for password.

Use : mysql -u root

This will resolve your problem.

Answer 3

According to the docs, in MySQL 5.7 the temp password gets put in /var/log/mysqld, but this is evidently not the case in 5.6.

With MySQL version 5.6 installed on RHEL 6.7, I finally found the temporary root password set during install was placed in the file /root/.mysql_secret.

Answer 4

A little late to the game, but I had the same issue on a raspberry pi install and found out that it needs elevation. Adding a sudo to the front of the password change allowed it to work.

sudo mysqladmin -u root password 'newpass'

followed by an elevated sql access

sudo mysql -u root -p  

If either are not run as sudo, it will fail.