How to connect to MySQL on a Plesk for Linux server using a MySQL admin password in plain text
For security reasons, MySQL admin password is encrypted and stored in the file /etc/psa/.psa.shadow on a Plesk for Linux server. To connect to MySQL using MySQL admin password in plain text, use the encrypted string from the file /etc/psa/.psa.shadow : Print the content of /etc/psa/.psa.shadow : # cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow $AES-128-CBC$ZmY/EEpy1+TwCNq5kalqSA==$Pd02kf4TTlpXdi/qyeo92w== Use the string from the command above as an admin password when connecting using database management tools (MySQL Workbench, HeidiSQL, etc.). Note: When connecting to MySQL server using a plain admin password from a Linux shell, be sure to put single quotes on the sides of the password: # mysql -uadmin -p ' $AES-128-CBC$ZmY/EEpy1+TwCNq5kalqSA==$Pd02kf4TTlpXdi/qyeo92w== '