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';

Update: On 8.0.15 (maybe already before that version) the PASSWORD() function does not work, as mentioned in the comments below. You have to use:

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