Change DB User Password
April 7, 2025 · AI Conversations
I have given ssh idrsa public to the client then he create an ssh user for me
now I want to change database user password
Here’s how to change the MySQL **database user password** securely via SSH:
—
### ✅ **Step-by-step instructions**
1. **SSH into the server**
ssh -i /path/to/your/id_rsa your_ssh_user@server_ip -p port_number
2. **Login to MySQL**
If the MySQL root or admin user is available:
mysql -u root -p
Or, if you're using another admin-level MySQL user:
mysql -u your_admin_user -p
3. **Change the password for the database user**
Once inside the MySQL prompt:
ALTER USER 'db_username'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_secure_password';
Or for remote access:
ALTER USER 'db_username'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_secure_password';
Then:
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
4. **Exit MySQL**
exit;
—
### 🔍 Don’t know the admin MySQL password?
– If your user doesn't have `sudo` access or you don't have the MySQL root password, you'll need the client to either:
– Provide a privileged MySQL user/password.
– Run the password change for you.
– Grant your Linux user access to MySQL via `sudo` (e.g., add to `sudo` group or configure socket access for `mysql`).
—
Would you like to try resetting the MySQL root password if you have full access but no working credentials? Let me know your current access level on the server.
1. The MySQL user you’re using has `ALTER USER` privileges, **or**
2. You can log in to MySQL and create a new user with access to the database.
Let’s try the possible path:
—
### 🔎 Step 1: Try logging in with your database user
You said you have database details — that should include:
– DB name
– DB username
– DB password (current)
– DB host (usually `localhost` or `127.0.0.1`)
– Port (default is `3306`)
Run this:
mysql -u your_db_user -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 your_db_name
Enter the current password when prompted.
—
### ✅ Step 2: If login is successful
Run this to check if you have permission to change your own password:
SHOW GRANTS;
Look for `GRANT USAGE ON *.*` or `GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES…`. If you **see `GRANT ALL`**, you can change the password using:
ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_secure_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
—
### ❌ Step 3: If you **don’t** have permission
Then you **cannot** change the password yourself — you’ll need to ask the client to:
– Either run the `ALTER USER` command for you
– Or give you another admin MySQL user login temporarily
– Or change it and send you the updated password securely
—
Would you like to share the exact error or result of your login and `SHOW GRANTS`? That’ll help confirm what permission you’ve got.
– ✅ **DB name**
– ✅ **DB username**
– ✅ **DB password**
And you can **SSH into the server**, here’s exactly what you should do to **change the password of that MySQL user**:
—
### 🔧 Step-by-step to change MySQL user password via SSH:
#### ✅ 1. SSH into your Hetzner server:
ssh -i /path/to/id_rsa your_ssh_user@your_server_ip -p your_port
#### ✅ 2. Login to MySQL using your existing DB credentials:
mysql -u your_db_user -p
(Then enter the current password when prompted.)
—
#### ✅ 3. Once inside MySQL, run this to change the password:
ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_new_secure_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
> If you're connecting from other servers (not `localhost`), use:
ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_new_secure_password';
—
#### 🔁 4. Exit MySQL:
exit;
—
### ✅ 5. Test the new password (optional)
You can test the login again using the new password:
mysql -u your_db_user -p
—
### ❗ Trouble?
If `ALTER USER` gives an error like:
ERROR 1227 (42000): Access denied; you need (at least one of) the SUPER privilege(s)
It means your current DB user **does not have permission to change its own password** — in that case, you **must ask the client** to run the command for you.
—
Would you like to try running this now and share the result if there’s any error?
So here’s a summary of what’s possible and your next steps:
—
### 🚫 You **cannot**:
– Run `ALTER USER` or `SET PASSWORD` — both require `ALTER` or `SUPER` privileges.
– Create a new MySQL user or grant privileges — also needs admin/root access.
—
### ✅ You **can**:
Ask the **client or server admin** (who has MySQL root access) to run one of the following:
-- If the DB is accessed only locally:
ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewSecurePassword';
-- If accessed remotely:
ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewSecurePassword';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
—
### ✍️ Sample message you can send to client:
> Hi,
>
> I have SSH access and am using the normal MySQL user you provided. However, since it's not an admin user, I’m unable to change the password myself.
>
> Could you please run the following command on the database server to update the password:
>
>
> ALTER USER 'your_db_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewSecurePassword';
> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
>
>
> Let me know once it’s done so I can update the credentials on the application side.
>
> Thanks!
—
Let me know if you want help generating a strong password or writing this more formally.
—
### ✅ Option 1: Login as your provided user (already working)
Since you have:
– DB name
– DB user
– DB password
You can log in like this:
mysql -u your_db_user -p your_db_name
Or with host (useful if connecting to another DB host from inside the server):
mysql -u your_db_user -p -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 your_db_name
Then enter your **current password**.
✅ This works **without root**.
—
### ✅ Option 2: Connect via Unix socket (if configured)
Some MySQL setups allow local Linux users (like `ubuntu`, `admin`, etc.) to access MySQL directly via the socket without a password.
Try:
sudo mysql
or
sudo mysql -u your_db_user
> ⚠️ This will only work if your current SSH user is allowed to use `sudo`, and the MySQL `user@localhost` is set to use `auth_socket`.
You can check auth method by:
SELECT user, host, plugin FROM mysql.user;
—
### ✅ Option 3: Use `.my.cnf` for auto-login (if set up earlier)
If the client/server admin added credentials to the MySQL config file at `~/.my.cnf`, you could log in with:
mysql
And it will use saved credentials. Check if the file exists:
cat ~/.my.cnf
You might see:
[client]
user=your_db_user
password=your_password
—
### ❌ What You Cannot Do:
– Change user password
– Create new user
– Grant privileges
without an admin/root account.
—
Would you like me to help you test a connection or interpret a MySQL error if you're seeing one now?
[sudo] password for nethues:
—
### 🔒 What This Means:
– You’re **not the root user**, and
– The `nethues` user **does not have passwordless sudo**, so it’s asking for `nethues`’s password on the Linux system
– **If you don’t know that password**, you cannot run `sudo` commands (like `sudo mysql`)
—
### ✅ Options you have now:
#### ✅ Option 1: Use the MySQL user credentials you already have
This works without root:
mysql -u your_db_user -p your_db_name
#### ✅ Option 2: Ask the client to:
1. Either run `ALTER USER` for your DB user (to reset password)
2. Or give you:
– A temporary **MySQL admin user**, or
– The **`nethues` user’s sudo password** (less ideal), or
– Make `nethues` passwordless for `sudo mysql`
#### ✅ Option 3: Ask the client to give your SSH user **sudo access** (if they trust your access level)
They can run this:
sudo usermod -aG wheel nethues
Or add a line to `/etc/sudoers`:
nethues ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
—
Would you like a ready-to-send message to ask the client for one of these options?
—
### ✅ 1. **Login with Existing MySQL User (You Already Have)**
You're already doing this:
mysql -u your_user -p your_db
🔒 But limited to only what that user is allowed to do — **cannot change its own password**.
—
### 🔄 2. **Use a PHP Script to Change Password (If DB User Has `ALTER USER`)**
You can try using a temporary PHP script like:
<?php
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=your_db", 'your_user', 'your_pass');
$pdo->exec("ALTER USER 'your_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewPass123!'");
echo "Password changed";
?>
🔴 **Only works** if the MySQL user has permission to run `ALTER USER` → most likely **won’t work** in your case.
—
### 🛑 3. **Reset Password Without Root or Sudo?**
Not possible.
To change a MySQL user password, you **must** be:
– MySQL root or a MySQL user with `ALTER USER`
– OR have **OS-level root/sudo** access to restart MySQL with `–skip-grant-tables` (dangerous for production)
—
### ✅ 4. **Client Adds a Temporary Admin MySQL User**
Ask your client to **create a new MySQL user** with temporary full access for you:
CREATE USER 'neeraj_admin'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongTempPass!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'neeraj_admin'@'%' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Then you can:
– Change your original user’s password
– Or clone the user/database
This avoids touching root/sudo but still gives you what you need.
—
### ✅ 5. **Client Changes the Password for You**
This is the cleanest:
> Just ask them to run:
ALTER USER 'your_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_new_password';
—
### ✅ Final Suggestion: Ready Message for Client
> Hi,
> I don’t have MySQL root access or OS-level sudo rights on the server, so I’m unable to change the DB user password myself.
>
> Could you please either:
> – Run this command on the DB server:
>
> ALTER USER 'my_db_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewSecurePassword123!';
> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
>
> – Or provide a temporary MySQL admin user so I can do it.
>
> Let me know what works best. Thanks!
—
Let me know if you'd like to try the PHP approach or test something live from SSH — I can guide you based on what works best in your environment.