How do I change the Super User’s password when password recovery emails are not sent?

Category: How to

To change the Super User’s password when password recovery emails are not sent, follow the steps below.

If you use Matomo 3.0 or newer

  1. Generate the secure password hash. On a linux server, run the following command:

    php -r 'echo password_hash(md5("changeMe"), PASSWORD_DEFAULT) . "\n";'

  2. Copy paste the output which will look like:

    $2y$10$FiknavjTDvUUTSMXGqgmUOfoKq2MkzlYt2/iu6cj02ZyI.40fUArC

  3. Connect to your Matomo (Piwik) database using a tool such as phpMyAdmin or direct Mysql access.

  4. The following SQL query must be executed on your database. Replace the ‘admin’ with your Super User username.

    UPDATE `matomo_user` SET `password` = "$2y$10$FiknavjTDvUUTSMXGqgmUOfoKq2MkzlYt2/iu6cj02ZyI.40fUArC" WHERE `login` = 'admin' AND superuser_access = 1

  5. Login to Matomo using the following credentials:

    login: admin 
password: changeMe

  6. Click on the Administration link in the top menu, then “Personal Settings”, then change your password to a more secure one.

  7. Check you are using the most up to date version of Matomo.

If you use Matomo 2.1 or newer:

  1. Connect to your Matomo database using a tool such as phpMyAdmin or direct Mysql access.

  2. The following SQL query must be executed on your database. Replace the ‘admin’ with your Super User username. Note that it must be replaced twice in this SQL query.

    UPDATE `matomo_user` SET `password` = MD5( 'changeMe' ), `token_auth` = MD5( CONCAT('admin', password)) WHERE `login` = 'admin' AND superuser_access = 1

  3. Login to Matomo using the following credentials:

    login: admin 
password: changeMe

  4. Click on the username link in the top menu, then change your password to a more secure one.

  5. Check you are using the most up to date version of Matomo.

If you use Matomo older 2.0.3 or older:

  1. In your config.ini.php, change the [superuser] section to:

    [superuser]
login = "admin"
password = "807ff71b3301262e222ad05e5b7c4325"
email = "admin@example.org"
salt = "ffd09b1b27ad925d2a3ca842947f391d"

  2. Login to Matomo using the following credentials:

    login: admin 
password: ChangeMe

  3. Go to Administration -> User settings, then update your email and change the password, click Save.

  4. Update Matomo to the latest version as soon as possible!

Related

See also How do I recover Super User access and give SuperUser permission to another account?