On 09.02.21, In I started a new job where they fired the old server administrator before hiring a new one (very bad idea). Anyway, they didn’t leave the mysql root password behind so I had to reset it.
You will still need root access to the Linux box running the database. Do the following logged in as root.
Step 1:
Create the following file named “mysql-init” in /root:
UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('myNEWpassword') WHERE User='root';FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Note: ensure UPDATE and FLUSH are on their own lines.
Step 2:
Kill mysqld:
killall mysqld
Step 3:
Run your mysql-init:
mysqld_safe --user=mysql --init-file=/root/mysql-init &
Note: Make sure the user is set to your mysql user.
Step 4:
After the server has started successfully, delete your mysql-init for security:
rm /root/mysql-init
