start the mysql daemon as /usr/local/bin/safe_mysqld & login as root: mysql -u root -p enter the password as newmysql add the user www: grant all priveleges on *.* to www@localhost identified by 'newmysql' with grant option; Here the user www has the right to grant privileges to other users. This can be changed if required with a simple update command on the grant tables /home/httpd/perl/perlsql/lonsql /usr/local/mysql/fakeclient