How do I reset the admin password for a WordPress website on Lightsail?

Resolution

To update or reset the admin password for your WordPress site, log in to Lightsail, then use either of these methods:

• Use the wp user update command.
• Configure the wp-config.php file.

After the password is updated, verify that the change is in effect.

Log in to Lightsail, and then switch to the root user

1. Use SSH to connect to Lightsail.
2. Switch to the root user:

   ~$ sudo su

Use the wp user update command to update the password

Prerequisite: Make sure that WordPress CLI is installed on your instance. If WordPress CLI is not installed, then configure the wp-config.php file to update the admin password.

1. List your site's users:

   # wp user list

2. In the output, note the ID number of the user that requires an updated password.

3. Update the password. Replace example_ID with the ID number that you noted in step 2, and example_password with the new password:

   wp user update example_ID --user_pass=example_password

After you change the password, a Success: Updated example_ID notification appears in the output. You can safely ignore the sendmail: not found notification in the output.

Configure the wp-config.php file to update the password

1. Retrieve the database's user name and password. Replace example_path with the path that corresponds to your Lightsail instance:
   Note: The output lists the database user's user name and password, not the admin's user name and password.

   # egrep -i "DB_USER|DB_PASSWORD" /example_path/wordpress/wp-config.php

2. In the output, note the DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD. The password is a long hash string. Make sure that you copy the entire password.

3. Back up the database. Replace the example_ values with the DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD from step 2:

   # mariadb-dump --all-databases user=example_DB_USER --password=example_DB_PASSWORD > /tmp/dbbkp

   To restore your database from this backup, run the following command:

   # mariadb-dump --all-databases --user=example_DB_USER --password=example_DB_PASSWORD < /tmp/dbbkp

4. List your site's users from the database. Replace the example_ values with the DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD from step 2:

   # mariadb --user=example_DB_USER 
   --password=example_DB_PASSWORD -D bitnami_wordpress -e "select * from
   wp_users ;

5. In the output, note the ID number of the user that requires an updated password.

6. Update the password. Replace the example_ values with the DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD that you noted in step 2, and the ID number that you noted in step 5. Replace new_password with your new password:

   ## mariadb --user=example_DB_USER --password=example_DB_PASSWORD -D bitnami_wordpress -e 
   "update wp_users set user_pass = MD5('new_password') WHERE ID = 'example_ID' ;"

Verify that the admin password is updated

1. Open the WordPress Admin Dashboard at http://example/wp-admin/. Replace example with the IP address of your site.
2. Enter the admin user name and your new password.
3. Log in.

If you can log in, then the password is updated.