How to log in to MySQL using the Plesk MySQL "admin" password in plain text?

Question

It is not possible to log in to MySQL using a Plesk MySQL "admin" password in plain text:

# mysql -uadmin -p"mysql_admin_password_in_plain" psa
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

while login with cat works fine:

# MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -uadmin psa

How to log in to MySQL using a Plesk MySQL "admin" password in plain text?

Answer

For security reasons, the Plesk MySQL "admin" password is encrypted and stored in the file /etc/psa/.psa.shadow.

To log in to MySQL using the Plesk MySQL "admin" password without cat, use the encrypted string from the file /etc/psa/.psa.shadow:

Note: Put the backslash symbol "\" before the sign "$":

# mysql -uadmin -p"\$AES-128-CBC\$NP15ZIjr/iNnfjQ72gR8yA==\$uil2bGcV83uxvFihBxkSvA==" psa

To connect from the MySQL Workbench use the plain text from the /etc/psa/.psa.shadow.