Prudently speaking, we need to take a few moments to consider
the security model implemented in MySQL. After
all, the MySQL server listens to a network port, and thus
anyone could conceivably connect to the server. But you
probably don't wish any random person to be able to query
your database or, worse, write to your database, adding
or deleting data. MySQL uses a security model based on
usernames, password, and privileges quite similar to Unix's
own security model.
An individual accessing the MySQL server has three
identifying traits: a username, a password, and an originating
host. When you assign privileges with MySQL, they are matched
to the combination of a guest's username, password,
and host. Sensible enough. For instance, you may wish to
require that user "NiceGuy" with the password
"ToughPass" connecting from any host in the
nice.net domain, has read-only access to a database. There
are actually quite a few possible permutations of these
privileges ... you can read the whole mindnumbing treatise
in the MySQL manual's
Privilege System documentation.
When you first install MySQL it is insecure, as the root
account has no password. So your first act should be
to create a root password. Do remember that these MySQL
user accounts are in no way connected to the user accounts
in your Unix system, they are simply similar in nature.
You'll find in mysql/bin a utility named
mysqladmin, which is a quick way to access certain
administrative functions of the server (you can also use the
mysql/bin/mysql interactive client but the commands
are longer). So, create a new root password:
/path/to/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root password new_password
For example:
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root password my!dog#99
Remember this root password, since it is the key to your
master account with which you can administrate all
your MySQL databases, and create, remove, or modify other
MySQL access accounts.
IE 7
Firefox 2.0