How to change MySQL Password Policy Level

MySQL servers ship with a validate password plugin that enforces a password policy. This can cause the error: ERROR 1819 (HY000): Your password does not satisfy the current policy requirements.

The policy level can be changed at runtime via the MySQL CLI or permanently in the config file (my.cnf or mysqld.cnf).

View current validate_password settings:

mysql> SHOW VARIABLES LIKE ‘validate_password%’;

+--------------------------------------+--------+
| Variable_name                        | Value  |
+--------------------------------------+--------+
| validate_password.check_user_name    | OFF    |
| validate_password.dictionary_file    |        |
| validate_password.length             | 8      |
| validate_password.mixed_case_count   | 1      |
| validate_password.number_count       | 1      |
| validate_password.policy             | MEDIUM |
| validate_password.special_char_count | 1      |
+--------------------------------------+--------+
7 rows in set (0.06 sec)

The default level is MEDIUM. Change it to LOW (requires only minimum 8-character length):

mysql> SET GLOBAL validate_password.policy=LOW;

Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.02 sec)

To make this permanent, add to the MySQL configuration (my.cnf):

[mysqld]
validate_password.policy=LOW

How to change MySQL Password Policy Level

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