How to Change a mysql userid password if the password is blank ( an empty space or carriage return)

When using a generic install of Mysql, OR when using WAMP which installs Mysql, the default password is EMPTY (meaning you just press enter).

Therefore after you install mysql, to get to the command prompt you would type:

# mysql -uroot -p
enter password: <enter>
mysql> show databases;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
+--------------------+


Above where it says enter password you would press ENTER to get ot the mysql prompt.


To get around this, the answer is actually simpler than even I thought.

# mysql -uroot <enter>
mysql> show databases
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
+--------------------+


Now that you verified this works you can change the password:

# mysqladmin -uroot password mynewpassword
#
#mysql -u root -p mynewpassword -e"show databases"
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| mysql              |
+--------------------+
#