Resetting MySQL Root Password: Red Hat and CentOS

If you've forgotten your MySQL root password (or are involved with some nefarious activity), here is how you can reset that password on a Red Hat (RHEL) system or a CentOS system:

Stop MySQL:

root#  service mysqld stop

Start MySQL in safe mode:

root#  mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

Log into MySQL as root:

root#  mysql -u root

Reset the password:

mysql>  update mysql.user set password=PASSWORD("YourNewPassW0RD") where User='root';

mysql>  flush privileges; exit;

Log out of MySQL and stop the Safe Mode:

root#  service mysqld stop

Start MySQL in the normal mode:

root#  service mysqld start

Log into MySQL with your new password:

root#  mysql -u root -p

Enter password:

mysql>

The above info is for a Red Hat system, CentOS, or Scientific Linux setup.  If you need to do this on a Debian system, check out this post.