MySQL reset root password

Hello,

This time I share with you the faster and more secure method to reset the root password of MySQL.

This method is faster because the downtime is between 1 or 2 seconds (MySQL restart time) and it is more secure because the mysqld is not started without grants on the tables.

The steps are:

1. Create text file /var/lib/mysql/mysql-init with the sintaxis to reset the password for user root:

   vim /var/lib/mysql/mysql-init
   

   SET PASSWORD FOR 'root'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('new_password');
   

2. Add under the [mysqld] stanza on the file /etc/my.cnf:

   init-file=/var/lib/mysql/mysql-init
   

3. Restart the mysqld service:

   service mysqld restart
   

4. Remove the init-file line from /etc/my.cnf

5. Remove /var/lib/mysql/mysql-init

   rm /var/lib/mysql/mysql-init
   

And after that, you can access again to your mysql instance.

😄