Ok, I feel ridiculous because I have done this before but now I can't remember how.
I need to create a new mysql database. But how do I log in to do that? I'm pretty sure that I have a root user and either no password or else a password that I can probably remember.
I try:
>mysql -u root -p
And then I enter my password. I've also tried without a password (not sure if I ever set one). The message I get is:
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: YES)
Maybe I just need to reset my password, but this is bringing back some vague memory about there being some other little trick that I need to do. That the problem is not a wrong password. Any ideas?
EDIT: The mysql server is running. I am able to execute queries on the pre-existing databases. (I changed the error message to reflect what happens now)