Mysql-Server issues XEN - Debian 4 and 5

[SinsFeelNatural]

I recently purchased a Xen VPS as an alternative to OpenVZ.

I installed Mysql-server and everything seemed to go well then. I then installed Apache, PHP and then tried to install some applications. My root mysql login would not work.

I started mysql in safe mode and tried to change the root password and nothing changed.

I tried this with two different Debian 4 and Debian 5 builds. Same exact issue. I sent up a ticket my host host and they could not fix the issue. They suggested that I use another Linux flavor.

I can add the root user manually but am getting other weird issue with other mysql users.

Here are the steps I took, even with one typo lol

login as: root
[email protected]'s password:
Linux who.one33.net 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5xen #1 SMP Wed Sep 29 13:30:21 EDT 2010 x 86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Thu Nov 25 16:01:09 2010 from 38.108.126.140
[root@who ~]#apt-get install mysql-server
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
libdbd-mysql-perl libdbi-perl libmysqlclient15off libnet-daemon-perl
libplrpc-perl libterm-readkey-perl mysql-client-5.0 mysql-common
mysql-server-5.0
Suggested packages:
dbishell tinyca
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libdbd-mysql-perl libdbi-perl libmysqlclient15off libnet-daemon-perl
libplrpc-perl libterm-readkey-perl mysql-client-5.0 mysql-common
mysql-server mysql-server-5.0
0 upgraded, 10 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 37.5MB of archives.
After this operation, 109MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main mysql-common 5.0.51a-24+lenny4 [61.8kB ]
Get:2 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libnet-daemon-perl 0.38-1.1 [45.8kB]
Get:3 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libplrpc-perl 0.2017-1.1 [34.9kB]
Get:4 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libdbi-perl 1.605-1 [787kB]
Get:5 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libmysqlclient15off 5.0.51a-24+lenny4 [1861kB]
Get:6 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libdbd-mysql-perl 4.007-1+lenny1 [139k B]
Get:7 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main mysql-client-5.0 5.0.51a-24+lenny4 [77 86kB]
Get:8 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main mysql-server-5.0 5.0.51a-24+lenny4 [26 .7MB]
Get:9 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main libterm-readkey-perl 2.30-4 [33.2kB]
Get:10 http://ftp.us.debian.org lenny/main mysql-server 5.0.51a-24+lenny4 [55.2k B]
Fetched 37.5MB in 4s (9047kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-common.
(Reading database ... 20979 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking mysql-common (from .../mysql-common_5.0.51a-24+lenny4_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libnet-daemon-perl.
Unpacking libnet-daemon-perl (from .../libnet-daemon-perl_0.38-1.1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libplrpc-perl.
Unpacking libplrpc-perl (from .../libplrpc-perl_0.2017-1.1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libdbi-perl.
Unpacking libdbi-perl (from .../libdbi-perl_1.605-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libmysqlclient15off.
Unpacking libmysqlclient15off (from .../libmysqlclient15off_5.0.51a-24+lenny4_i3 86.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libdbd-mysql-perl.
Unpacking libdbd-mysql-perl (from .../libdbd-mysql-perl_4.007-1+lenny1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-client-5.0.
Unpacking mysql-client-5.0 (from .../mysql-client-5.0_5.0.51a-24+lenny4_i386.deb ) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up mysql-common (5.0.51a-24+lenny4) ...
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-server-5.0.
(Reading database ... 21254 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking mysql-server-5.0 (from .../mysql-server-5.0_5.0.51a-24+lenny4_i386.deb ) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libterm-readkey-perl.
Unpacking libterm-readkey-perl (from .../libterm-readkey-perl_2.30-4_i386.deb) . ..
Selecting previously deselected package mysql-server.
Unpacking mysql-server (from .../mysql-server_5.0.51a-24+lenny4_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up libnet-daemon-perl (0.38-1.1) ...
Setting up libplrpc-perl (0.2017-1.1) ...
Setting up libdbi-perl (1.605-1) ...
Setting up libmysqlclient15off (5.0.51a-24+lenny4) ...
Setting up libdbd-mysql-perl (4.007-1+lenny1) ...
Setting up mysql-client-5.0 (5.0.51a-24+lenny4) ...
Setting up mysql-server-5.0 (5.0.51a-24+lenny4) ...
Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
Starting MySQL database server: mysqld.
Checking for corrupt, not cleanly closed and upgrade needing tables..
Setting up libterm-readkey-perl (2.30-4) ...
Setting up mysql-server (5.0.51a-24+lenny4) ...
[root@who ~]#mysql -u root -[
mysql: unknown option '-['
[root@who ~]#mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: Y ES)