Tested on
– Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon and MySQL 5.0.45. (2007-10-21)
– Ubuntu Linux 6.06 Dapper Drake and MySQL 4.1.15.

Set / change / reset the MySQL root password on Ubuntu Linux. Enter the following lines in your terminal.

1. Stop the MySQL Server.

   sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop

1. Start the mysqld configuration.

   sudo mysqld --skip-grant-tables &

1. Login to MySQL as root.

   mysql -u root mysql

1. Replace YOURNEWPASSWORD with your new password!

   UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('YOURNEWPASSWORD') WHERE User='root'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit;

Note: This method is not regarded as the securest way of resetting the password. However it works.