Recently my server went down and now when back up, the database section in my matrix control panel is asking for a username and password.

Ive contacted support and they want to charge £70 to retrieve this as they say I must have changed it from the default??? Now I know I haven't as I don't know how to!!!

I found this in the help pages...
The web administration tool stores the MySQL root user password in the file /etc/matrixsa/webadmin.ini

Now I know how to call up the ect folder using SSH but how do I call up and view the webadmin.ini file so I can see what this ilusive password is??

Cheers

from the shell

edit -r filename

should open the file as read only

Oh wow - this came in handy. A friend of mine just had the same issue w/ her root mysql password (totally forgot it and deleted the PHPMyAdmin file that had it!).

Thanks you 2!

Chris,

its coming back as "command not found" ?

Try pico filename

-- Oh, and don't save. Ctrl+x will exit

Or you can do a

less filename

if pico is not installed.

its showing as:

[mysql]
user_privileges = SELECT
admin_user_password =
dbo_privileges = SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,CREATE,DROP,ALTER,INDE X,CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES,LOCK TABLES
admin_username = root


i read in the help pages that the password is set to "blank" as default but still cant login through it. Can I add a password?

This would mean that your database root account have no password...
:-/

from the shell, try

mysql -u root mysql

If it don't say you cannot login without password, it means your db isn't protected.
In that case, do this to set a new password:

mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD

If you cannot login your db, take a look here for a tutorial on mysql emergency password recovery:
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/442

No, I cant follow that tutorial as it wont let me log into anything.

Support have said to uninstall mysql using yum then reinstall but this has left me even more confused!!

Do NOT re-install mysql...
I don't know Yum, but if it delete the old datas, all your db's will be gone after that...

Read all the article, they don't speak about only 1 method.

root@steve:~# /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &
[1] 6702
Starting mysqld daemon with databases from /var/lib/mysql
mysqld_safe[6763]: started
Here you can see the new job (number "1") has started and the server is running with the process ID (PID) of 6702.
Now that the server is running with the --skip-grant-tables flag you can connect to it without a password and complete the job:
root@steve:~$ mysql --user=root mysql

ok im working my way through but am getting this when i try to stop mysql

[root@localhost init.d]# cd mysql stop
-bash: cd: mysql: No such file or directory
[root@localhost init.d]# mysql stop
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)

FIXED IT!!!!

it was because im on a Fedora server that i couldnt stop it.
had to use the command:

#service mysqld stop

then use

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop
# /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables --skip-networking &
# mysql -u root
mysql> use mysql;
mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD("your password here") WHERE User="root";

(not bad for someone who only started using shell commands this morning!)

Cheers for all your help in getting this sorted...
*runs off to fire off a grumpy email to my server company about the lack of support*

I DONT BELIEVE IT!!!!!

since logging out of the control panel and then back in, its doing the same!!!

Is there anything i should have done to save the shell session??

Nope, nothing else have to be done.
I don't see why it's back to it's previous state though. Once you have done the password update, it's fixed, until another update...

Did you remember having installed something recently on your server ? Maybe there is a rogue script that update the mysql root password...
Or you may have been hacked, and a process take care to update the password at given times, to prevent you to close access to it....

Try to install "rootkit hunter", or "rkhunter". It's a programm that will scan essential files of your system and check if it finds special known rootkits signatures.
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/1...otkits-in.html

A rootkit is a collection of tools a hacker installs on a victim computer after gaining initial access. It generally consists of network sniffers, log-cleaning scripts, and trojaned replacements of core system utilities such as ps, netstat, ifconfig, and killall.

Try it again, see if it reverts again. But before you close out after changing the password, make a full backup if you're able to.

Good luck. Sorry I don't know more about MySQL to give better advice.

Did it again and it seems ok for now but when i try to add a database i get

1290, 'The MySQL server is running with the --skip-grant-tables option so it cannot execute this statement'

How to I turn it back on?

Did it again and it seems ok for now but when i try to add a database i get

1290, 'The MySQL server is running with the --skip-grant-tables option so it cannot execute this statement'

How to I turn it back on?

you have to kill the running mysql process.
The command depend of which process you have started, mysqld or mysqld_safe.
You can do a

 ps -e

to see the running process, and search for it. Then,

 killall mysqld

or

killall mysqld_safe

, and then restart it with a

service mysqld start