MySQL 5.6 introduces a utility to make this easier and more secure. First, let’s start with a new mysqld instance with a blank root password and make it more secure:
[vagrant@localhost ~]$ mysqladmin -u root password New password:secret Confirm new password:secret [vagrant@localhost ~]$ mysql -u root ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
Ok, so I’ve added a password, now I want to create my .my.cnf file:
[vagrant@localhost ~]$ mysql_config_editor set --user=root --password Enter password:secret [vagrant@localhost ~]$ mysql Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or g. Your MySQL connection id is 10 Server version: 5.6.21-70.0 Percona Server (GPL), Release 70.0, Revision 688 Copyright (c) 2009-2014 Percona LLC and/or its affiliates Copyright (c) 2000, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Type 'help;' or 'h' for help. Type 'c' to clear the current input statement. mysql>
What did ‘mysql_config_editor set’ actually do? It creates a .mylogin.cnf file (which stands in for a .my.cnf) in my home directory that contains my credentials, just in encrypted form
The mysql client picks this up right away and will use it by default. This file has good default filesystem permissions, is local to my homedir, and is a whole lot better than specifying it on the command line or typing it in every time.
