Usually, we come across ‘MySQL error 1819’ while creating a MySQL user with a relatively weak password.

Technically, this is not an error. Instead, it is a notification that says we are using a password that does not meet the recommended password policy requirements.

Here at Bobcares, we often receive requests to resolve the MySQL errors as a part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today, let us see how efficiently our Support Engineers fix this MySQL error.

Know more about the MySQL error 1819 (HY000)

This error means that we are using a weak password.

For example, when creating a user, this error occurred.

mysql> create user ‘bob’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘mypassword’;

Here the password is extremely weak and can present a security risk.

The MySQL database ships with a validate_password plugin which when enabled, enforces a password validation policy. The plugin enforces 3 levels of a password validation policy. They are:

• LOW: Allows users to set a password of 8 or fewer characters.
• MEDIUM: Allows users to set a password of 8 or fewer characters with mixed cases and special characters.
• STRONG: Allows users to set a password that has all the attributes of a medium-level password with the inclusion of a dictionary file.

The password policy is set to MEDIUM by default. We run the below command to confirm the password policy level.

$ SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ‘validate_password%’;

In case, if we run the command and get the output empty set, then the plugin is not enabled yet.

In order to enable the plugin, we run the below commands.

mysql> select plugin_name, plugin_status from information_schema.plugins where plugin_name like ‘validate%’;
mysql> install plugin validate_password soname ‘validate_password.so’;

Then, to confirm the activation of the plugin, we run the below command.

mysql> select plugin_name, plugin_status from information_schema.plugins where plugin_name like ‘validate%’;

How to fix MySQL error 1819 (HY000) in Linux

Now let’s take a look at how our Support Engineers resolve this error message.

In order to resolve this error message, we set the password validation policy to the lowest level. In return, this will create an avenue for setting weak passwords which can ultimately cause our database to be compromised by hackers.

Here are the steps to change the MySQL Password Validation Policy

First, we set a lower password validation policy.

mysql> SET GLOBAL validate_password_policy=LOW;

OR

mysql> SET GLOBAL validate_password_policy=0;

Then we can confirm the password validation policy level.

$ SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ‘validate_password%’;

Now we can proceed and assign a relatively weak password as per our wish.

mysql> create user ‘bob’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘mypassword’;

If we want to revert to the ‘MEDIUM’ password policy level, then we can run the below command.

mysql> SET GLOBAL validate_password_policy=MEDIUM;

In case, if the password policy doesn’t change then we exit from the MySQL prompt and restart the MysqL service from Terminal window.

$ sudo systemctl restart mysql

Disable password validation policy

If we want to create users with weak password, we simply disable the Validate Password component altogether and re-enable it back after creating the users.

We run the below command to log into the MySQL server:

$ mysql -u root -p

We run the following command to temporarily disable Validate Password component.

mysql> UNINSTALL COMPONENT “file://component_validate_password”;

Then we create the users with any password.

mysql> create user ‘kumar’@’localhost’ identified by ‘123456’;

After that, we enable the Validate Password component. For that, we run the below command.

mysql> INSTALL COMPONENT “file://component_validate_password”;

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Conclusion

In short, this MySQL error occurs while creating a MySQL user with a relatively weak password. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers fix this MySQL error.