How can I get access to a VIVO database?

This question most commonly arises when someone ships dump of a MySQL database to a developer at another site, for testing or debugging purposes. The sender of the data may be reluctant to provide the password to the root account, either because

• they do not wish the developer to know their root password, or
• they do not wish to use unsecured media to send their root password.

So the developer faces a puzzle. They can load the data into MySQL, they can start an instance of VIVO and give it access to the data, but they cannot log in to that VIVO because they don't know the password.

How to get access to a VIVO instance without knowing the root password?

Procedure

To gain access to the database, simply create a new root account.

• Modify the runtime.properties file to include a root account of your choosing, and restart VIVO

  rootUser.emailAddress = new_root@mydomain.edu

• Open VIVO in the browser. You will see a warning screen like the following:
  
  Click Continue to view the VIVO home page.
• Log in using the new root account. The first-time password for your new root account will be rootPassword, and you will be asked to assign a new password.

You now have two root accounts, and you know the password to the new one. Use the User Accounts pages to either

• Delete the old root account,
  or
• Set a fresh password on the old root account and delete the new root account.