Changing database password in configuration.php

[Shelomit]

My sites were hacked and I had them cleaned by a security service. The security service advised me to change all passwords including my database passwords, which I did in phpMyAdmin. My account has been reactivated.

Now I'm having trouble updating the database passwords in Joomla. There doesn't seem to be any $password for the database. They all look like...
public $db = 'mydatabase';
public $dbprefix = 'xxx_';
public $dbtype = 'mysql';
The error messages are simply "could not connect to MySql"

Where exactly do I update the password in the configuration.php file?

[SharkyKZ]

Try adding it, if it doesn't exist.

[Per Yngve Berg]

There is a

public $password

at near the end of the file.

[Shelomit]

Thank you, I tried but it made no difference.

[Shelomit]

The public $password relates to the Admin login.

[gws]

The $password needs to be the database password.

[fcoulter]

The public $password relates to the Admin login.

No it does not. The administrator password is not stored anywhere except in encrypted form in the database

The database settings in the configuration.php should look something like this:-

Code: Select all

/* Database Settings */
	public $dbtype = 'mysqli';               // Normally mysqli
	public $host = 'localhost';              // This is normally set to localhost
	public $user = '';                       // DB username
	public $password = '';                   // DB password
	public $db = '';                         // DB database name
	public $dbprefix = 'jos_';         //database prefix

Make sure that all these are set to the correct values for your site.

If you are doing this by editing the configuration.php file, make sure that you change the file permissions to writable (0644) before doing so, otherwise the changes will not be saved. It is possible that this is why it is not working for you at the moment.

[Shelomit]

Thank you fcoulter, changing permissions to 644 worked, and the database is now connected on one installation.
However when I change the permissions back to 444, the change doesn't take effect. Why would this be?

[fcoulter]

However when I change the permissions back to 444, the change doesn't take effect.

I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean that the permission doesn't change to 444? I don't know, it should do. It is possible that you just need to refresh the view in your ftp client.

[sozzled]

@fcoulter: the different behaviours may come about depending on who owns the files. For example, are the files owned by apache:apache? That may explain why 644 vs 444 operates differently. Just guessing, though.

[fcoulter]

When the permissions are 444 the file is not writeable by anyone so I don't think that the ownership matters.

I think it is pointless to keep guessing until the OP clarifies what they mean. We could be here all day.

[sozzled]

When the permissions are 444 the file is not writeable by anyone ..

... except the Global Configuration editor ...

Even so, we're speculating within a vacuum. I don't know what this means or why it would be the case:

... changing permissions to 644 worked, and the database is now connected on one installation. However when I change the permissions back to 444, the change doesn't take effect.

[Webdongle]

When the permissions are 444 the file is not writeable by anyone ..

... except the Global Configuration editor ....

Incorrect because saving the the global config does not write to the file. The Owner of a file that is 444 can delete it and then replace it (as well as change it the 444) but not edit it.

[Webdongle]

Thank you fcoulter, changing permissions to 644 worked, and the database is now connected on one installation.
However when I change the permissions back to 444, the change doesn't take effect. Why would this be?

With configuration.php 444 the site doesn't work but with it 644 the site does?

If that is correct it would suggest that Joomla needed to edit the configuration.php every time it run and that it was not Owner. That would be a very unusual set of circumstances!

viewtopic.php?f=714&t=793531 please.

[fcoulter]

The OP doesn't say that the site doesn't work, he or she says "the change doesn't take effect". I interpret that to mean that they just didn't understand that with 444 permissions the file is read-only.

In the absence of further information I suggest regarding this topic as closed.