This behavior breaks automated tools where --defaults-
file=/etc/mysql/debian.cnf should provide valid credentials.
Easy way to restore /etc/mysql/debian.cnf to be functional again...
Instructions relate to Yakkety/MariaDB + likely work with Xenial + MySQL
too.
1) First verify root can actually
As mentioned in the README (https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/pkg-
mysql/mariadb-10.0.git/tree/debian/mariadb-server-10.0.README.Debian) :
'On new installs no root password is set and no debian-sys-maint user is
created anymore. Instead the MariaDB root account is set to be authenticated
using the
