Would you like to learn how to configure the MySQL service to force the use of authentication via a password? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to configure the password authentication to the ROOT user account using the command-line of a computer running Ubuntu Linux.

• Ubuntu 20
• Ubuntu 19
• Ubuntu 18
• MySQL 8.0.21

Equipment list

The following section presents the list of equipment used to create this tutorial.

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Tutorial MySQL - Configure the authentication via Password

Install the MySQL service.

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Access the MySQL command-line.

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On the authentication prompt, a password is not required.

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Verify the authentication plugin and the password configured to the ROOT user account.

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Here is the command output:

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The MySQL ROOT account has no password configured.

The ROOT account is using the authentication plugin named AUTH_SOCKET.

Configure the ROOT account to use the plugin named MYSQL_NATIVE_PASSWORD.

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Configure a password to the ROOT account of the MySQL service.

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In our example, the password configured was KAMISAMA123.

Save your configuration and exit.

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Try to access the MySQL service using the ROOT account and the new password.

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Verify the authentication plugin and the password configured to the ROOT user account.

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Here is the command output:

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Congratulations! You successfully enabled the MySQL password authentication to the ROOT account.