Answer - After installing MySQL, you set up the initial access privileges by running scripts/mysql_install_db. The mysql_install_db script starts up the mysqld server, then initializes the grant tables to contain the following set of privileges: The MySQL root user is created as a superuser who can do anything. Connections must be made from the local host. NOTE: The initial root password is empty, so anyone can connect as root without a password and be granted all privileges. An anonymous user is created that can do anything with databases that have a name of 'test' or starting with 'test_'. Connections must be made from the local host. This means any local user can connect without a password and be treated as the anonymous user. Other privileges are denied. For example, normal users can't use mysqladmin shutdown or mysqladmin processlist. NOTE: The default privileges are different for Windows. Because your installation is initially wide open, one of the first things you should do is specify a password for the MySQL root user. You can do this as follows (note that you specify the password using the PASSWORD() function): shell> mysql -u root mysql mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password') WHERE user='root'; mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES; You can, in MySQL Version 3.22 and above, use the SET PASSWORD statement: shell> mysql -u root mysql mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR root=PASSWORD('new_password'); Another way to set the password is by using the mysqladmin command: shell> mysqladmin -u root password new_password Only users with write/update access to the mysql database can change the password for others users. All normal users (not anonymous ones) can only change their own password with either of the above commands or with SET PASSWORD=PASSWORD('new password'). Note that if you update the password in the user table directly using the first method, you must tell the server to re-read the grant tables (with FLUSH PRIVILEGES), because the change will go unnoticed otherwise. Once the root password has been set, thereafter you must supply that password whe