Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password yes)

Question

I was trying to install MySQL 5.6.15 to my computer and got this error:

unable to update security settings. access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password yes)

I guess current root password is wrong but I do not remember what it was. So how can I fix this problem?

Answer 1

If you installed MySQL 5.6 from the command line, the easiest way to find the temporary password is to go to the Linux command line do the following:

cd
cat `ls -la | grep mysql | grep secret | awk '{print $9}'` | awk '{print $18}'

This will quickly print the temporary password.

Try to login using that password

cd
OLDPASSFILE=`ls -la | grep mysql | grep secret | awk '{print $9}'`
PASSWORD=`cat ${OLDPASSFILE} | awk '{print $18}'
mysql -uroot -p${PASSWORD}

If the temporary password is no longer available, then you will have do the following:

NEWPASS="whateveriwant"
service mysql stop
service mysql start --skip-grant-tables
mysql -ANe"update mysql.user set password=PASSWORD('${NEWPASS}') where user='root'"
service mysql restart

Give it a Try !!!

Answer 2

From https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15929831/unable-to-update-security-settings-access-denied-for-user-rootlocalhost-u :

The prior install screen had asked for the Current root password. But this was the first MySQL install on the machine.

Answer: when asked for the Current root password, leave that field blank. Then the server installed ok.