Generate random passwords using Perl

If you have a server where you have to generate new passwords daily, the following script can automate the process:

#!/usr/bin/perl
my @alphanumeric = (’a’..’z', ‘A’..’Z', 0..9);
my $randpassword = join ”, map $alphanumeric[rand @alphanumeric], 0..8;
print “$passwordgen\n”

Run it with ./passwordgen.pl and it will generate random strings of charaters and numerals, 8 characters long: lf78A7xv

Reset the MySQL password

You forgot your MySQL password. No problem, you can recover it easily. Stop the MySQL service with

# /etc/init.d/mysql stop

…and restart it without a password:

# mysqld_safe –skip-grant-tables &

You’ll get an output similar to [1] 5958. Now press Enter and type the following one after the other:

# mysql -u root
mysql> use mysql;
mysql> update user set password=PASSWORD(”NEW-ROOT-PASSWORD”) where User=’root’;
mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit
# /etc/init.d/mysql restart

It’s all done now and you should be able to login with the new password.