ERROR PleskMainDBException Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

Symptoms

1. After upgrading Plesk on Windows or after changing the admin password, the following error is shown instead of the Plesk login page:

   CONFIG_TEXT: Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

2. A similar error appears when you are opening the PHPMyAdmin page after the issue above is resolved:

   CONFIG_TEXT: You probably did not create a configuration file. You might want to use the setup script to create one.
   #1045 - Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

Cause

An incorrect password is set in the MySQL database for the admin user.

Resolution

• The first case with MySQL on port 8306 can be repaired in 3 steps:

  1. Add the skip-grant-tables option under the [PleskSQLServer] section of the file %plesk_dir%MySQL\my.ini.
  2. Then, restart the Plesk SQL Server service:

  C:> net stop PleskSQLServer net start PleskSQLServer

  3. Then change the admin password:

     "%plesk_cli%\init_conf.exe" --set-admin-password -passwd <new_password>

  4. Remove the skip-grant-tables and restart the service again.

• For the second case:

  1. Connect to psa database:

     C:\>"%plesk_dir%\mysql\bin\mysql.exe" -uadmin -P8306 -p psa
     Enter password: ***********
     mysql> select * from databaseservers;
     +----+-------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
     | id | host | port | type | server_version | admin_login | admin_password |
     +----+-------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+----------------+-------------------------------------------+
     | 1 | localhost | 3306 | mysql | 5.1.68 | admin | $AES-128-CBC$dOWumr1ccMryZe7HTKh+dA$tMQ0kteqadixYOK51a2Nmg |
     | 2 | .\MSSQLSERVER2008 | 0 | mssql | 10.50.1600 | sa | $AES-128-CBC$Mp/U5Dyj3Dp+u40mRnEkKA$M/EC+USxJjKfXUoXheqW2g |
     +----+------------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------+

  2. Temporarily remove the row which describes the MySQL instance:

     MYSQL_WIN: mysql> delete from databaseservers where id=1;Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

  3. Go to Plesk -> Tools and Settings -> Database servers and add a mysql database with the admin username and your own password.

  4. Check the newly added row in the databaseservers table and take the value from the admin_password column.

     MYSQL_WIN: select * from databaseservers;+----+-------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+------------------------------------------------------------+---------------+------------+
     | id | host | port | type | server_version | admin_login | admin_password | parameters_id | last_error |
     +----+-------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+------------------------------------------------------------+---------------+------------+
     | 2 | .\MSSQLSERVER2008 | 0 | mssql | 10.50.1600 | sa | $AES-128-CBC$Mp/U5Dyj3Dp+u40mRnEkKA$M/EC+USxJjKfXUoXheqW2g | 0 | no_error |
     | 5 | localhost | 3306 | mysql | 5.1.68 | admin | $AES-128-CBC$G2NUq/EH0zPCHYxJeRiY8g$Up7gweyCwXl3I613+GTcDg | 189 | no_error |
     +----+-------------------+------+-------+----------------+-------------+------------------------------------------------------------+---------------+------------+

  5. Revert changes in this table back to their original state and set the new password only:

     MYSQL_WIN: mysql> delete from databaseservers where id=5;
     Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
     mysql> INSERT INTO databaseservers VALUES (1,'localhost','3306','mysql','5.1.68','admin','$AES-128-CBC$dOWumr1ccMryZe7HTKh+dA$tMQ0kteqadixYOK51a2Nmg',NULL,'no_error');
     Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
     mysql> UPDATE databaseservers SET admin_password='$AES-128-CBC$G2NUq/EH0zPCHYxJeRiY8g$Up7gweyCwXl3I613+GTcDg' where id=1;
     Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)Rows matched: 1 Changed: 1 Warnings: 0