How to Install mysql 5.7 on centos 7 and change the root password

install mysql5.7 repo

yum localinstall https://dev.mysql.com/get/mysql57-community-release-el7-9.noarch.rpm

install the community server

yum install -y mysql-community-server

we want to set a default root password as mysql 5.7 comes with a default password. we set the environment option

systemctl set-environment MYSQLD_OPTS="--skip-grant-tables"

start the mysql service

systemctl start mysqld

login and change the root password

mysql
mysql> UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string = PASSWORD('MyNewPassword') WHERE User = 'root' AND Host = 'localhost';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'MyNewPass';
mysql> quit

stop the service once again

systemctl stop mysqld

unset the environment option

systemctl unset-environment MYSQLD_OPTS

start the service

systemctl start mysqld

verify your installation

mysql -p
mysql> show databases;