Setting the MySQL root user password on OS X

Question

I just installed MySQL on Mac OS X. The next step was setting the root user password, so I did this next:

1. Launch the terminal app to access the Unix command line.

2. Under the Unix prompt I executed these commands:

   cd /usr/local/mysql/bin
   ./mysqladmin -u root password 'password'
   

But, when I execute the command

./mysql -u root, this is the answer:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 224
Server version: 5.5.13 MySQL Community Server (GPL)

Copyright (c) 2000, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql>

I can get into the mysql command line without any password!

Why is this?

Answer 1

Try the command FLUSH PRIVILEGES when you log into the MySQL terminal. If that doesn't work, try the following set of commands while in the MySQL terminal

mysql -u root

mysql> USE mysql;
mysql> UPDATE user SET password=PASSWORD("NEWPASSWORD") WHERE User='root';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> quit

Change out NEWPASSWORD with whatever password you want. Should be all set!

Update: As of MySQL 5.7, the password field has been renamed authentication_string. When changing the password, use the following query to change the password. All other commands remain the same:

mysql> UPDATE user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD("NEWPASSWORD") WHERE User='root';

for MySQL 8.0+ Don't use

mysql> UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string='password' WHERE User='root'; 

as it overwrites the authentication_string, which is supposed to be a hash and not plain text, instead use:

mysql> `ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyNewPass';` 

Answer 2

If you don't remember the password you set for root and need to reset it, follow these steps:

1. Stop the mysqld server, this varies per install

2. Run the server in safe mode with privilege bypass

   sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables;

3. In a new window connect to the database, set a new password and flush the permissions & quit:

   mysql -u root

   For MySQL older than MySQL 5.7 use:

   UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('your-password') WHERE User='root';

   For MySQL 5.7+ use:

   USE mysql;

   UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD("your-password") WHERE User='root';

   Refresh and quit:

   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

   \q

4. Stop the safe mode server and start your regular server back. The new password should work now. It worked like a charm for me :)

---

Note

Run UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=null WHERE User='root'; if you don't want to set a password for root user. Or if PASSWORD() function doesn't work for you.

Answer 3

Once you've installed MySQL, you'll need to establish the "root" password. If you don't establish a root password, then, well, there is no root password, and you don't need a password to log in.

So, that being said, you need to establish a root password.

Using terminal enter the following:

Installation: Set root user password:

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root password NEW_PASSWORD_HERE

If you've made a mistake, or need to change the root password use the following:

Change root password:

cd /usr/local/mysql/bin/
./mysql -u root -p
> Enter password: [type old password invisibly]

use mysql;
update user set password=PASSWORD("NEW_PASSWORD_HERE") where User='root';
flush privileges;
quit

Answer 4

The instructions provided in the mysql website is so clear, than the above mentioned

1. $ sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop
2. $ sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server start --skip-grant-tables
3. /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql
4. mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
5. mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyNewPass';
6. mysql> exit or Ctrl + z
7. $ sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop
8. $ sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server start
9. /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql -u root -p
10. Enter the new password i.e MyNewPass

Reference: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/resetting-permissions.html

Answer 5

1. Stop the mysqld server.

• Mac OS X: System Preferences → MySQL → Stop MySQL Server
• Linux (From Terminal): sudo systemctl stop mysqld.service

2. Start the server in safe mode with privilege bypass

   • From Terminal: sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

3. In a new terminal window:

   • sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root

4. This will open the MySQL command-line client. From here enter:

   • UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD('NewPassword') WHERE User='root';

   • FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

   • quit

5. Stop the mysqld server again and restart it in normal mode.

   • Mac OS X (From Terminal): sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server restart
   • Linux Terminal: sudo systemctl restart mysqld

Answer 6

For the new MySQL 5.7, for some reason the binary commands of MySQL aren't attached to the shell, and you have to do:

1. Restart the Mac after the installation.

2. Start MySQL:

   System Preferences → MySQL → Start button

3. Go to MySQL install folder in the terminal:

   cd /usr/local/mysql/bin/
   

4. Access to MySQL:

   ./mysql -u root -p
   

   And enter the initial password given to the installation.

5. In the MySQL client, change the password:

   mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyNewPassword';

Answer 7

In the terminal, write mysql -u root -p and hit Return.

Enter the current MySQL password that you must have noted down.

And set the password:

SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('new_password');

Please refer to this documentation here for more details.

Answer 8

If you have forgot the MySQL root password, can’t remember or want to break in….. you can reset the MySQL database password from the command line in either Linux or OS X as long as you know the root user password of the box you are on:

(1) Stop MySQL

sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop

(2) Start it in safe mode:

sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

(3) This will be an ongoing command until the process is finished so open another shell/terminal window, log in without a password:

mysql -u root

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('password') WHERE User='root';

In the UPDATE command above just replace the 'password' with your own new password, make sure to keep the quotation marks

(4) Save and quite

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

\q

(5) Start MySQL

sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server start

Answer 9

None of the previous comments solved the issue on my Mac.

I used the commands below and it worked.

brew services stop mysql
pkill mysqld
rm -rf /usr/local/var/mysql/ # NOTE: this will delete your existing database!!!
brew postinstall mysql
brew services restart mysql
mysql -u root

Answer 10

I solved this by:

1. Shutting down my MySQL server: mysql.server stop
2. Running MySQL in safe mode: mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables
3. In another terminal, login with mysql -u root
4. In the same terminal, run UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=null WHERE User='root';, then FLUSH PRIVILEGES; and then exit with exit;
5. Stop the safe mode server with mysql.server stop and then start the normal one; mysql.server start

Now you can set your new password with

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'yourpasswd';

Answer 11

When I installed OS X v10.10 (Yosemite), I got a problem with MySQL. I tried lot of methods, but none worked. I actually found a quite easy way. Try this out.

1. First log in to a terminal from super user (su) privileges.

   sudo su

2. Stop MySQL

   sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop

3. Start in safe mode:

   sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

4. Open another terminal, log in as su privileges, and then, log in to the MySQL client (mysql) without a password

   mysql -u root

5. Change the password

   UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password') WHERE User='root';

6. Flush privileges

   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

7. You are done now.

Answer 12

The methods mentioned in existing answers don't work for MySQL 5.7.6 or later. According the MySQL documentation, this is the recommended way.

B.5.3.2.3 Resetting the Root Password: Generic Instructions

MySQL 5.7.6 and later:

mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyNewPass';

Reference: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/resetting-permissions.html

Answer 13

If you can't remember your password, @radtek's answer worked for me except in my case I had set up MySQL using brew which meant that steps 1 and 2 of his answer had to be changed to:

1. /usr/local/bin/mysql.server stop

2. /usr/local/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

Note: the lack of sudo.

Answer 14

This is what exactly worked for me:

1. Make sure no other MySQL process is running. To check this do the following:

   • From the terminal, run this command:

     lsof -i:3306
     

     If any PID is returned, kill it using kill -9 PID

   • Go to System Preferences → MySQL → check if any MySQL instances are running, stop them.

2. Start MySQL with the command:

   sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables
   

3. The password for every user is stored in the mysql.user table under columns User and authentication_string respectively. We can update the table as:

   UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string='your_password' where User='root'
   

Answer 15

I think this should work:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOURNEWPASSWORD'

(Note that you should probably replace root with your username if it isn't root.)

Answer 16

Stopping MySQL Server

sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop

Starting MySQL in safe mode

sudo /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

Changing the root password

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root

use mysql;
UPDATE user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD('NEW_PASSWORD') WHERE user='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Testing

Run /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root

Now enter the new password to start using MySQL.

Answer 17

macOS v10.14 (Mojave) and later with 5.7.26 installed from the Mac OS X DMG installer.

When attempting to use the UPDATE command posted by other users, it results in the following error:

ERROR 1820 (HY000): You must reset your password using ALTER USER statement before executing this statement.

Copy the password that was presented to you by the installer, open a terminal, and do the following:

mysql -uroot -p
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOURPASSWORDHERE';

Answer 18

Try this in a terminal:

/usr/local/bin/mysql_secure_installation

Answer 19

This workaround works on my laptop!

Mac with macOS v10.14.5 (Mojave).

MySQL 8.0.17 was installed with Homebrew.

• I run the following command to locate the path of MySQL

  brew info mysql

• Once the path is known, I run this:

  /usr/local/Cellar/mysql/8.0.17/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-table

• In another terminal I run:

  mysql -u root

• Inside that terminal, I changed the root password using:

  update mysql.user set authentication_string='NewPassword' where user='root';

• and to finish I run:

  FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

And voilà, the password was reset.

References

Answer 20

To reference MySQL 8.0.15 + , the password() function is not available. Use the command below.

Kindly use

UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string='password' WHERE User='root';

Answer 21

You can manually turn-off MySQL on Mac, by clicking on  Apple menu and open System Preferences. Choose the “MySQL” preference panel, and then click on the “Stop MySQL Server” button to stop MySQL Server on Mac.

After you stop your MySQL, you'll need to follow these steps.

• You'll need to start MySQL in skip-grant-tables mode

  sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server start --skip-grant-tables
  

• In your terminal itself, enter this command to flush existing privileges

  /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
  

• Now you need to alter the user password

  mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'newpassword';
  
  mysql> exit
  

Then you can go to  Apple menu and open System Preferences. Choose the “MySQL” preference panel, then click on the “Stop MySQL Server” button to stop MySQL Server on Mac.

Finally you can again go to  Apple menu and open System Preferences. Choose the “MySQL” preference panel, then click on the “Start MySQL Server” button to start MySQL Server on Mac.

Answer 22

For MySQL 8

1. Shutdown MySQL server

• Go to System Preferences -> MySQL
• Click Stop MySQL Server button

2. Open two terminal [command-line] windows

3. In the first terminal window run the following:

mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables

4. In the second terminal window do the following:

4.1. Login to MySQL

mysql -u root

4.2. Run the following in the MySQL prompt:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'NEWPASSWORD';

4.3. Exit MySQL

exit;

5. Go back to the first terminal window and shutdown mysqld_safe

5.1. Press CTRL + Z

5.2. Run the following command

mysqladmin -u root -p shutdown

5.3. Enter the new password you set in 4.2. when prompted.

6. Start MySQL Server [see 1.]

Answer 23

If you forgot your password or want to change it to your MySQL:

1. Start your terminal and enter:

   sudo su
   

2. Enter the password for you system

3. Stop your MySQL server:

   sudo /usr/local/mysql/support-files/mysql.server stop
   

4. Leave this window open, run second terminal window and enter here:

   mysql -u root
   

5. And change your password for MySQL:

   UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD('new_password') WHERE User='root';
   

   where "new_password" - your new password. You don't need old password for MySQL.

6. Flush, quit and check your new password:

   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   

7. Close all windows and check your new password for MySQL.

Answer 24

Much has changed for MySQL 8. I've found the following modification of the MySQL 8.0 "How to Reset the Root Password" documentation works with Mac OS X.

Create a temporary file, $HOME/mysql.root.txt, with the SQL to update the root password:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY '<new-password>';

This uses mysql_native_password to avoid the Authentication plugin 'caching_sha2_password' cannot be loaded error, which I get if I omit the option.

Stop the server, start with an --init-file option to set the root password, and then restart the server:

mysql.server stop
mysql.server start --init-file=$HOME/mysql.root.txt
mysql.server stop
mysql.server start

Answer 25

$ export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/mysql/bin

now,to make this permanent:
$ echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/mysql/bin' >> ~/.bash_profile

next, start mysql in safe mode:
$ sudo mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables;

If this does not work, go to System Preferences and stop MySQL server.
next, On the **other** terminal, you may use the below:

$ mysql -u root

mysql> USE mysql;

mysql> UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=null WHERE 
User='root';

mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

mysql> exit;

$ mysql -u root
mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH 
caching_sha2_password BY 'yourpassword';

$ mysql -u root -p
Enter password: 
mysql> SELECT user();

next, start the mysql server in normal mode. and you're done with resetting your root password. this worked for mysql 8.0.17 ver. for me.
thanks to everyone on top, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36099028/error-1064-42000-you-have-an-error-in-your-sql-syntax-want-to-configure-a-pa,

https://www.houseninetytwo.com/how-to-use-mysql-in-terminal-on-mac-os-high-sierra/#:~:text=You%20may%20have%20gotten%20something,%2Fmysql%2Fbin%2Fmysql.&text=It%20should%20execute%20the%20right,return%20your%20version%20of%20MySQL.

Answer 26

mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables
mysql -u root
UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string='yourpasswd' WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH caching_sha2_password BY 'yourpasswd';

I somehow need to do this every time my MacBook restarts.

Answer 27

Read more here.

As of Dec 2022, the following works for MySQL 8.0.26 on macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 :

1. Go to system preferences > mysql > stop server
2. Open terminal and run: mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables
3. Open a new terminal and run: mysql -u root
4. Run: ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ROOT';
   • ROOT will be your new password.
5. Run: FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
6. Run: exit
7. Go to system preferences > mysql > start server