I do not care to gain access to any database data, I simply want to reset the root password for the MySQL server on an ubuntu 14.04 LTS vm that I am using for development and testing.
Several places I have read that dpkg-reconfigure will prompt for a new MySQL root password, but it does not. Nor does uninstalling and reinstalling mysql-server.
I tried uninstalling and zapping the configuration folder /etc/mysql, and that also had no effect.
It must have prompted me when I ran the installer and now I've forgotten what I entered.
UPDATE user SET Password = PASSWORD('newpwd')
worked – Warren P May 11 '15 at 21:36