MacLochlainns Weblog

A couple students stumbled on the MySQL on-line documentation today. Specifically, they didn’t find instructions on how a non-root user could change their password. I’ve also added this as an explanation on the MySQL documentation for 12.5.1.6. SET PASSWORD Syntax page.

You reset your own password when you’re not the root user with this syntax:

mysql> SET PASSWORD = PASSWORD('new_password');

This is simple syntax but carries a risk if you walk away from your terminal because somebody can run it without needing to know the original user password. Oracle requires that you know the original password if you use this syntax:

SQL> PASSWORD
Changing password FOR PLSQL
OLD password:
NEW password:
Retype NEW password:
Password changed

If you think that you’re safe walking away from an Oracle SQL*Plus console, check this because it doesn’t require knowing the current password either.

SQL> SHOW USER
USER IS "PLSQL"
SQL> ALTER USER plsql IDENTIFIED BY plsql;
USER altered.

Don’t walk away, always lock your terminal or use the QUIT command to exit MySQL. This generally prevents somebody hijacking your password. You can check this post if you’re interested in changing the root password when you don’t have it to begin with. Hope this helps a few folks.