MySQL 5.7 - Where is the mysql_secret file on Windows 7?

Question

I've just installed a copy of MySQL 5.7 for testing, and I love the fact that it now only creates a single root account, and puts the password into a file called .mysql_secret.

There's just one problem. Where can I find the above mentioned file. On Linux it is apparently found in $HOME, but my test DB is on Windows.

I tried various places including %USERPROFILE% but I just can't find it anywhere!!

Can anyone please tell me where to find this file? As otherwise my testing will be over before it has begun.

Answer 1

My blind guess would be to look in %APPDATA%\MySQL on your system as follows:

cd %APPDATA%
cd MySQL
dir .my_secret

For those who use the MySQL no-install Zip File (such as myself), you will not see one.

If .my_secret is not on your Windows servers, I have an alternative. You could start up mysqld manually with skip-grant-tables, set the password

net stop mysql
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL\MySQL 5.7\bin"
start mysqld --skip-grant-tables
mysql -ANe"update mysql.user set authentication_string=PASSWORD('mynewpassword') where user='root'"
mysqladmin shutdown
net start mysql
mysql -uroot -p
Enter password: (enter the password 'mynewpassword' and hit <Enter>)

Give it a Try !!!

• IGGt: Cheers, that worked exactly as required. It turns out though, (after spending all last night reading the MySQL documents in detail) that, as far as I can tell, the .mysql_secret only applies to Linux. On Windows, it is still insecure and creates a root user with no password. I was inadvertently seeing a MySQL Bug (#75656) which is why I couldn't connect.

Answer 2

The .mysql_secret file is only used by mysql_install_db (which is deprecated).

The new way to bootstrap a server (mysqld --initialize) writes the randomly generated password to the error log.

Answer 3

Can you check your my.ini file? (inside MySQL folder)

There you should find something like:

[mysqladmin]
user=root
password=pwpwpw
port=3306

• IGGt: Cheers. I always take the username / passwords out of the ini file for security reasons. I put them back in under [mysqladmin] but it made no difference.