MySQL user DB does not have password columns - Installing MySQL on OSX

In MySQL 5.7, the password field in mysql.user table field was removed, now the field name is 'authentication_string'.

First choose the database:

mysql>use mysql;

And then show the tables:

mysql>show tables;

You will find the user table, now let's see its fields:

mysql> describe user;
+------------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+-----------------------+-------+
| Field                  | Type                              | Null | Key | Default               | Extra |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+-----------------------+-------+
| Host                   | char(60)                          | NO   | PRI |                       |       |
| User                   | char(16)                          | NO   | PRI |                       |       |
| Select_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Insert_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Update_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Delete_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Drop_priv              | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Reload_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Shutdown_priv          | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Process_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| File_priv              | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Grant_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| References_priv        | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Index_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Alter_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Show_db_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Super_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_tmp_table_priv  | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Lock_tables_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Execute_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Repl_slave_priv        | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Repl_client_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_view_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Show_view_priv         | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_routine_priv    | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Alter_routine_priv     | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_user_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Event_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Trigger_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| Create_tablespace_priv | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| ssl_type               | enum('','ANY','X509','SPECIFIED') | NO   |     |                       |       |
| ssl_cipher             | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL                  |       |
| x509_issuer            | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL                  |       |
| x509_subject           | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL                  |       |
| max_questions          | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0                     |       |
| max_updates            | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0                     |       |
| max_connections        | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0                     |       |
| max_user_connections   | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0                     |       |
| plugin                 | char(64)                          | NO   |     | mysql_native_password |       |
| authentication_string  | text                              | YES  |     | NULL                  |       |
| password_expired       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
| password_last_changed  | timestamp                         | YES  |     | NULL                  |       |
| password_lifetime      | smallint(5) unsigned              | YES  |     | NULL                  |       |
| account_locked         | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N                     |       |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+-----------------------+-------+
45 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Surprise!There is no field named 'password', the password field is named ' authentication_string'. So, just do this:

update user set authentication_string=password('1111') where user='root';

Now, everything will be ok.

Compared to MySQL 5.6, the changes are quite extensive: What’s New in MySQL 5.7


This error happens if you did not set the password on install, in this case the mysql using unix-socket plugin.

But if delete the plugin link from settings (table mysql.user) will other problem. This does not fix the problem and creates another problem. To fix the deleted link and set password ("PWD") do:

1) Run with --skip-grant-tables as said above.

If it doesnt works then add the string skip-grant-tables in section [mysqld] of /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf. Then do sudo service mysql restart.

2) Run mysql -u root -p, then (change "PWD"):

update mysql.user 
    set authentication_string=PASSWORD("PWD"), plugin="mysql_native_password" 
    where User='root' and Host='localhost';    
flush privileges;

quit

then sudo service mysql restart. Check: mysql -u root -p.

Before restart remove that string from file mysqld.cnf, if you set it there.