How to Recover MySQL Root Password

Do you want to recover the MySQL root password. its by no means, easy. But its quite simple if you follow the procedure. You will have to follow this step-by-step processes.

 
Here are the commands you need to type for each step (log in as the root user):
Step 1 : Stop the MySQL service:

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop

Output:

    Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.

Step 2: Start the MySQL server w/o password:

# mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

Output:

    [1] 5988
    Starting mysqld daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
    mysqld_safe[6025]: started

Step 3: Connect to the MySQL server using the MySQL client:

# mysql -u root

Output:

    Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
    Your MySQL connection id is 1 to server version: 4.1.15-Debian_1-log

    Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

    mysql>

Step 4: Set a new MySQL root user password:

mysql> use mysql;
mysql> update user set password=PASSWORD("NEW-ROOT-PASSWORD") where User='root';
mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit
Step 5: Stop the MySQL server:

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop

Output:

    Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld
    STOPPING server from pid file /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
    mysqld_safe[6186]: ended

    [1]+  Done                    mysqld_safe –skip-grant-tables

Now Start the MySQL server and test it:

# /etc/init.d/mysql start
# mysql -u root -p