I forgot the MySQL root password, how do I reset it?

The Mysql root password can be set using the following procedure:

1.
Stop the MySQL service:

# service mysqld stop

Example output:

#service mysqld stop
Stopping MySQL: [OK]

2.
Start MySQLwith:

# /usr/bin/safe_mysqld --skip-grant-tables &

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, safe_mysqld has been changed to mysqld_safe.

Note: safe_mysqld is a shell script which invokes mysqld, but additionally traps any forceful
terminations of the MySQL server and avoids any database corruption.

3.
Change the password of the root user:

# mysql -u root mysql
mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password') WHERE user='root'
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> exit;


4.
You could perform Step 1 here and avoid using step 4, but in some cases, the startup script may not
behave as expected since mysqld was started directly, i.e. not using the init script.

# mysqladmin shutdown

5.
Start the MySQL service:

# service mysqld start

Example output:

# service mysqld start
Starting MySQL: [ OK ]