Changing your database password is something you rarely need, but then you need it immediately, and with the lowest possible downtime. Why you should do that, in first time? Hm, there are many reasons/situations when you should consider changing your database access data ASAP:
- You just got hacked
- You have decided to end the business with your current developer, and you aren't sure that he's a trustable person
- You have a good habit of changing all your passwords regularly
The usual process described in another article here involves couple of minutes of downtime. But if you have a high traffic website or your business relies heavily on it, even these minutes can make the difference. so, let's see, how you can do the swap without even one second of downtime!
- First of all, go in your server's hosting panel, create a new database, a new user with a new password, and grant ALL privileges to the new user on the brand new database.
- Then export your old database and import it to the new one. Some hosting control panels might let you copy it directly from PHPMyAdmin, but there are too many possibilities out there to discuss them all.
- Download your Joomla! configuration file (the configuration.php from your WEBROOT, and edit it, replace the old credentials (database name, database username and database password with the new credentials.
- Make a backup of your old configuration.php on the server, and upload the newly edited file.
That's all! Instantly the visitors will use your Joomla site using the new database. The only errors they might experience - if you have entered all new data correctly - can be, that if in the configuration you opted to store the session data in database then some user sessions might be discontinued - they will need to re-login.
