When connecting to the MySQL screens in DirectAdmin, if this error appears, that would indicated that the "da_admin" user has not been setup correctly. To resolve this do the following.
Desired root password:
Desired da_admin password:
1) Make sure the root mysql password works. If you know it, skip to 2). The mysql root password can be found in the /usr/local/directadmin/scripts/setup.txt if it has not been deleted. It's under the header "mysql=". If it cannot be found, then mysqld will have to be restarted with the --skip-grant-tables option (this guide is for Redhat/CentOS):
That should start up mysql without the need for a root password. Once in, type
use mysql
UPDATE mysql.user SET password=PASSWORD('rootpass') WHERE user='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
quit
That will reset the root password for you.
Type "killall -9 mysqld_safe; killall -9 mysqld" to shut down mysqld.
Start it up again with
/etc/init.d/mysqld start
2) Once the root mysql password is set and known, then you can begin the process of resetting the da_admin mysql user. Type:
mysql -uroot -p
Then press enter. You'll be asked for the password. Once in mysql, type:
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO da_admin@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'daadminpass' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
quit
That should set the password for da_admin in mysql.
3) Now we need to make sure it's setup correctly for DA to use. Edit /usr/local/directadmin/conf/mysql.conf and set
user=da_admin
passwd=daadminpass
4) Test it out in DirectAdmin.
Some system have a /root/.my.cnf file with a preset password. This will override the value set in DA. If you're getting a similar error during backups or restores, try deleting or renaming your /root/.my.cnf so that it doesn't conflict.