Change user password in MySQL 5.7 with “plugin: auth_socket”
In this blog, we’ll discuss how to use “plugin: auth_socket” to change user password in MySQL 5.7. In
In Debian/Ubuntu it is pretty common to install MySQL/Percona Server with an empty password for the root user. After everything is configured and tested, then a password is set. This is not a good practice in production servers (or soon-to-be production servers), but you can do it for your own test servers. With regards to authentication, things have changed a bit in 5.7, and methods that worked before now need a different procedure.
Let’s say that you install 5.7 and don’t specify a password. You will see the following:
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SELECT User, Host, HEX(authentication_string) FROM mysql.user; +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | User | Host | HEX(authentication_string) | +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | root | localhost | | |
OK, the password is empty. Let’s change it:
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mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'test'; mysql> SELECT User, Host, HEX(authentication_string) FROM mysql.user; +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | User | Host | HEX(authentication_string) | +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | root | localhost | | |
That doesn’t work, it’s still empty:
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mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR 'root'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('test'); mysql> SELECT User, Host, HEX(authentication_string) FROM mysql.user; +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | User | Host | HEX(authentication_string) | +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | root | localhost | | |
But why? Let’s check the warnings:
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mysql> show warnings; +---------+------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Level | Code | Message | +---------+------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Warning | 1287 | 'SET PASSWORD FOR = PASSWORD('')' is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Please use SET PASSWORD FOR = '' instead | | Note | 1699 | SET PASSWORD has no significance for user 'root'@'localhost' as authentication plugin does not support it. | +---------+------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
The problem is in the note coded 1699. This user is using an authentication plugin that doesn’t support a password. Which one could it be?
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mysql> SELECT * from user where User="root"G *************************** 1. row *************************** Host: localhost User: root [...] plugin: auth_socket [...] |
Ok, auth_socket. If you install 5.7 and don’t provide a password to the root user, it will use the auth_socket plugin. That plugin doesn’t care and doesn’t need a password. It just checks if the user is connecting using a UNIX socket and then compares the username.
If we want to configure a password, we need to change the plugin and set the password at the same time, in the same command. First changing the plugin and then setting the password won’t work, and it will fall back to auth_socket again. So, run:
So, the correct way to do this is to run the following:
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ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'test'; |
And now, it works 🙂
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mysql> SELECT User, Host, HEX(authentication_string) FROM mysql.user; +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | User | Host | HEX(authentication_string) | +-----------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | root | localhost | 2A39344244434542453139303833434532413146393539464430324639363443374146344346433239 | |
If your deployments use empty passwords, and you change them later on, remember to update your scripts/recipes!
thanks a lot for this post. I have spent the last 24 hours recovering from failed upgrade from ubuntu 14.04 to 16.04. The upgrade of mysql failed, and left the database inaccessible. At least one of the problems turned out to be that the root password was “”. Your process above allowed me to login to the db again.
If you ever get to Portland ORE, I will buy you a beer. Cheers!
Hey Huck, I will let you know! I want that beer 😉
I could kiss you!
Oh thank you, it’s perfect. You deserve really a good bier. In France if you come, it will be with pleasure.
Beers and kisses are always welcome 😛 Glad to see you have found the post useful. Thanks for the feedback.
If the commande “ALTER USER ‘root’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY ‘test’;” doesn’t work you can try :
UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string = PASSWORD(‘test’), plugin = ‘mysql_native_password’ WHERE User = ‘root’ AND Host = ‘localhost’;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
It worked for me.
Thanks for the hint, anyway !
thank you very much it work for me too.
Thanks man, Worked like a charm…
I had the same problem as Huck after upgrading Ubuntu to 16.04. It’s frustrating when you need access to your database but you can’t. I’m using GnuCash with a MySQL database. This post solved my problems.
Thank you, you saved me from a lot of frustration and searching for a solution.
Thank you so much, you saved my laptop from being destroyed by an angry fist of death just now
thank you very much for this post 🙂
Thanks a lot! You saved a lot of time!
fresh install percona in ubuntu 14.04 :
i cant get root password
and i tried to login into
mysql -u root -p
always fail
how to login to mysql root with blank password (fresh install)
i didn’t understand socket auth things
thanks
That is exactly what I was looking from an hour or so.
Thanks man!
Thanks a lot, this worked perfectly for Ubuntu 16.04.
This is actually the only thing that really works out of the box with a simple statement… there are lots of posts on Stackoverflow and other sites with complex solutions (that don’t work) and require you to start mysql in safe mode.