Reset Mysql Root Password On Linux

Cody Taylor — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:19:03 +0000

If you have root access to a linux server and you don’t have the root mysql password, but need it, then you can easily reset the root mysql password in just a few commands. These commands probably differ depending on what linux distro you use. I was using Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) when I wrote this.

Firstly you will want to turn the mysql service off.


codytaylor@server:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop
 * Stopping MySQL database server mysqld

Now we restart the mysql server with the ’skip-grant-tables’ option which basically allows anyone to do whatever they like. It’s usually preferable to include the ’skip-networking’ option so that only localhost (you) have access to the naked database.


 codytaylor@server:~$ sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables --skip-networking &

Now all that is left is actually changing the root password. Log into the mysql monitor and change the root password.


codytaylor@server:~$ mysql -u root mysql
mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('password') WHERE User='root';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Those commands will reset the root mysql password to ‘password’. Now you’ll probably want to restart the mysql service and have it run normally.


codytaylor@server:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart

If you are using windows and you want to reset the mysql root password then check the mysql documentation.

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Reset Mysql Root Password On Linux