2.10.4 Securing the Initial MySQL Account

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The MySQL installation process involves initializing the data directory, including the grant tables in the mysql system schema that define MySQL accounts. For details, see Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory”.

This section describes how to assign a password to the initial root account created during the MySQL installation procedure, if you have not already done so.

A password may already be assigned to the initial account under these circumstances:

• On Windows, installations performed using MySQL Installer give you the option of assigning a password.

• Installation using the macOS installer generates an initial random password, which the installer displays to the user in a dialog box.

• Installation using RPM packages generates an initial random password, which is written to the server error log.

• Installations using Debian packages give you the option of assigning a password.

• For data directory initialization performed manually using mysqld --initialize, mysqld generates an initial random password, marks it expired, and writes it to the server error log. See Section 2.10.1, “Initializing the Data Directory”.

The mysql.user grant table defines the initial MySQL user account and its access privileges. Installation of MySQL creates only a 'root'@'localhost' superuser account that has all privileges and can do anything. If the root account has an empty password, your MySQL installation is unprotected: Anyone can connect to the MySQL server as root without a password and be granted all privileges.