Cannot log in as root user when not root Unix user

(please check this reproduces first - I only suspect this due to some test failure logs)

I'm pretty certain it's the former, as I've been consistently setting a root password when installing 5.7 and logging in as a non-root unix user.

The issue might either be that a) Password isn't changed if database exists and has auth_socket set or b) Password is changed, but auth_socket isn't disabled, in which case it will override any password and require the unix user (and only the unix user).

If auth_socket is set to a user, then ALTER USER ... IDENTIFIED BY 'password' will not have any effect.

So if the server is installed with a blank password for root, trying to change the password with a reconfigure won't work.

But logging in as a root with a password set during the initial install works as it should.

If we want to be able to switch from auth_socket back to a normal password login we can ensure mysql_native_plugin is the user's authentication method when setting the password in postinst.

If the server has passwordless root access, this patch will check the value of mysql-server/rootpassword. If set, it will set that password instead of enabling auth_socket

The attachment "0001-Enable-setting-password-for-existing-database-if-it-.patch" seems to be a debdiff. The ubuntu-sponsors team has been subscribed to the bug report so that they can review and hopefully sponsor the debdiff. If the attachment isn't a patch, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are member of the ~ubuntu-sponsors, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issue please contact him.]

This bug was fixed in the package mysql-5.7 - 5.7.11-0ubuntu6

---------------
mysql-5.7 (5.7.11-0ubuntu6) xenial; urgency=medium

  [ Lars Tangvald ]
  * Added patch for exporting my_make_scrambled_password to fix
    pure-ftpd FTBFS.
  * Client commands in d/postinst will ignore custom config (LP:
    #1567695)
  * Enable changing root password on install if previous db had empty
    (LP: #1567098)

  [ Robie Basak ]
  * d/mysql-server-5.7.postinst: quote "$rootpw" correctly.
  * d/control: add libnuma-dev and libaio-dev to libmysqld-dev
    dependencies, since these are required according to "mysql_config
    --libmysqld-libs". This fixes FTBFS of packages that use
    libmysqld-dev.

 -- Robie Basak <email address hidden> Wed, 13 Apr 2016 17:34:08 +0100