mysql-resetting-root-password

• kill mysql
• create a file with the following lines in it;

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

• start mysql passing in init file;

mysqld_safe --init-file=/tmp/mysql-init &

check /var/log/mysqld.log to ensure it started and ran your file

• should be able to log in now with empty password and set a more secure one.
• kill mysql once more (kill `cat /mysql/data/mysql.pid`) then restart as normal