SET PASSWORD [FOR user] = password_option
password_option: {
'auth_string'
| PASSWORD('auth_string')
}
The SET PASSWORD statement
assigns a password to a MySQL user account.
'
represents a cleartext (unencrypted) password.
auth_string'
SET PASSWORD ... = PASSWORD('syntax is deprecated in MySQL 5.7 and is removed in MySQL 8.0.auth_string')SET PASSWORD ... = 'syntax is not deprecated, butauth_string'ALTER USERis the preferred statement for account alterations, including assigning passwords. For example:ALTER USER user IDENTIFIED BY 'auth_string';
Under some circumstances, SET
PASSWORD may be recorded in server logs or on the
client side in a history file such as
~/.mysql_history, which means that
cleartext passwords may be read by anyone having read access
to that information. For information about the conditions
under which this occurs for the server logs and how to control
it, see Section 6.1.2.3, “Passwords and Logging”. For similar
information about client-side logging, see
Section 4.5.1.3, “mysql Client Logging”.
SET PASSWORD can be used with or
without a FOR clause that explicitly names a
user account:
With a
FORclause, the statement sets the password for the named account, which must exist:userSET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = 'auth_string';With no
FORclause, the statement sets the password for the current user:userSET PASSWORD = 'auth_string';Any client who connects to the server using a nonanonymous account can change the password for that account. (In particular, you can change your own password.) To see which account the server authenticated you as, invoke the
CURRENT_USER()function:SELECT CURRENT_USER();
If a FOR
clause is given, the account name uses the format described in
Section 6.2.4, “Specifying Account Names”. For example:
user
SET PASSWORD FOR 'bob'@'%.example.org' = 'auth_string';
The host name part of the account name, if omitted, defaults to
'%'.
Setting the password for a named account (with a
FOR clause) requires the
UPDATE privilege for the
mysql system database. Setting the password
for yourself (for a nonanonymous account with no
FOR clause) requires no special privileges.
When the read_only system
variable is enabled, SET PASSWORD
requires the SUPER privilege in
addition to any other required privileges.
The password can be specified in these ways:
Use a string without
PASSWORD()SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = 'password';SET PASSWORDinterprets the string as a cleartext string, passes it to the authentication plugin associated with the account, and stores the result returned by the plugin in the account row in themysql.usersystem table. (The plugin is given the opportunity to hash the value into the encryption format it expects. The plugin may use the value as specified, in which case no hashing occurs.)Use the
PASSWORD()function (deprecated in MySQL 5.7)SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('password');The
PASSWORD()argument is the cleartext (unencrypted) password.PASSWORD()hashes the password and returns the encrypted password string for storage in the account row in themysql.usersystem table.The
PASSWORD()function hashes the password using the hashing method determined by the value of theold_passwordssystem variable value. Be sure thatold_passwordshas the value corresponding to the hashing method expected by the authentication plugin associated with the account. For example, if the account uses themysql_native_passwordplugin, theold_passwordsvalue must be 0:SET old_passwords = 0; SET PASSWORD FOR 'jeffrey'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('password');If the
old_passwordsvalue differs from that required by the authentication plugin, the hashed password value returned byPASSWORD()cannot be used by the plugin and correct authentication of client connections cannot occur.
The following table shows, for each password hashing method, the
permitted value of old_passwords and which
authentication plugins use the hashing method.
| Password Hashing Method | old_passwords Value | Associated Authentication Plugin |
|---|---|---|
| MySQL 4.1 native hashing | 0 | mysql_native_password |
| SHA-256 hashing | 2 | sha256_password |
For additional information about setting passwords and authentication plugins, see Section 6.2.10, “Assigning Account Passwords”, and Section 6.2.13, “Pluggable Authentication”.