1. Kill the mysqld that may be running (not with -9):
kill `cat /var/lib/mysql/hostname.pid`
2. Restart MySQL in safe mode:
/usr/bin/safe_mysqld --skip-grant-tables&
3. Connect to MySQL:
/usr/bin/mysql
4. Use the mysql database:
use mysql;
5. Run the update command putting your new password where the ....'s are. Yes this is all one command:
update user set password = password('.......') where user = 'root' and host='localhost';
6. Flush the privileges so everything will take:
flush privileges;
7. Then quit mysql:
quit
8. Stop mysql from command line with:
/etc/init.d/mysql stop
9. Restart mysql from command line with:
/etc/init.d/mysql start
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