How to reset / recover MySQL root password

There are many ways recovering or resetting MySQL root password but the one i like & follow is below procedure,

1) Update MySQL configuration file to add "skip-grant-tables"(without quotes) under [mysqld] section. When the server is restarted this option causes the MySQL service / process to start without using the privilege system at all, which gives anyone with access to the server unrestricted access to all databases.

2) Now restart MySQL process / service issuing following command.

$ sudo systemctl restart mysqld

3) Once the server is restarted you can change the password of the root user issuing following command in sequence,

[siva@mysql ~]$ mysql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 2 Server version: 5.7.14 MySQL Community Server (GPL)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2016, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. 
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql> UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string=PASSWORD("xxxyyy") WHERE User='root';
Query OK, 1 row affected, 1 warning (0.01 sec)
Rows matched: 1  Changed: 1  Warnings: 1

mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> exit

4) Now, you have successfully updated the root password. You have to secure the MySQL access by removing "skip-grant-tables" from my.cnf file & restart MySQL service.

5) Now you should be able to login to MySQL using updated root password.

6) But once you try to perform any operations it may throw below exception & solution follows, (here when you execute alter you may retain same passowrd or change the password based on your policy requirements)

mysql> select * from mysql.user where user="root";
ERROR 1820 (HY000):
You must reset your password using ALTER USER statement before executing this statement.

mysql> ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'xxxyyyzzz';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> exit