HOW TO CHANGE MYSQL ROOT PASSWORD IN UBUNTU

Passwords are hard to remember and if you have forgotten the mysql root password or you just want to change /reset it, there is a way. This guide will help you do that :

STEP 1: CHECK THE VERSION OF MYSQL ON UBUNTU 20.04

First of all, check the version of your MYSQL because this post contains a solution for version 8 or higher. If your version is different then the solution will be different..

Check the mysql version using the command:

$ mysql — version

STEP 2: STOP THE MYSQL SERVER

To change the mysql root password , you first need to shut down the MYSQL server and you can do so using the following command.

$ sudo systemctl stop mysql.service

Check the status of te MYSQL server using this command

$ sudo systemctl status mysql.service

STEP 3: SKIP GRANT TABLES AND NETWORKING

To start the MYSQL server without granting the tables and networking check, set the environment variable MYSQLD_OPTS which MYSQL used on start up

$ sudo systemctl set-environment MYSQLD_OPTS=” — skip-networking — skip-grant-tables”

We can now log in to MYSQL without providing any passwords

STEP 4: START THE MYSQL SERVICE

After setting the environment variable MYSQLD_OPTS, start the MYSQL service now using the command:

$ sudo systemctl start mysql.service

STEP 5: CONFIRMING ITS STATUS

$ sudo systemctl status mysql.service

STEP 6: SIGN IN TO MYSQL SHELL

Now we can sign in to MYSQL as a root user using the command without using any password, you will log in to the MYSQL shell

$ sudo mysql -u root

Alter the root password by flushing the privileges

mysql> flush privileges;

Select the mysql database using the command :

mysql> USE mysql

Set the new password using the alter command by typing :

mysql> ALTER USER ‘root’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘the-new-password’;

Then log out from the MYSQL shell using exit command

mysql> exit;

STEP 7: KILL ALL MYSQL PROCESSES AND RESTART THE MYSQL SERVICE

$ sudo killall -u mysql

Then restart MYSQL server using the command below:

$ sudo systemctl restart mysql.service

STEP 8: LOGIN WITH THE NEWLY CREATED PASSWORD

$ sudo mysql -u root -p

The password has been successfully reset and you will be logged successfully into the MYSQL shell.