Cannot log in as admin in Ubuntu OpenEMR

Support
1

Situation
I am using OpenEMR on a cloudhosted server (Ubuntu). I can log in as a secretary, but I cannot log in as the admin. It says username or password are invalid, but I can’t change it. I have very user-level knowledge, so I hope you can have patience with me. Thanks in advance.

OpenEMR Version
I’m using OpenEMR version 7.0.3 (4)

Browser:
I’m using Google Chrome.

Operating System
I’m using Windows 11.

2

hi @Yanara_Debora, guessing you’re going to need to get into the db and run a special command to reset the password expiration. See this post.

3

It seems like the same problem, but how do I go about accessing the database? Excuse my ignorance. :sweat_smile:

4

Hi @Yanara_Debora ,

I asked AI : “I am using OpenEMR on a cloudhosted server (Ubuntu). how do I go about accessing the database”

Here is what I got:
Accessing OpenEMR Database on Ubuntu Cloud Server

Step 1: SSH into Your Server

bash

ssh username@your-server-ip

Replace username with your actual username and your-server-ip with your server’s IP address.

Step 2: Locate Database Credentials

Once connected via SSH, find your database credentials in the OpenEMR configuration file:

bash

sudo cat /var/www/html/openemr/sites/default/sqlconf.php

This will show you:

  • $host - Database host (usually localhost)

  • $dbase - Database name (usually openemr)

  • $login - Database username

  • $pass - Database password

Step 3: Connect to the Database

Using the credentials from Step 2:

bash

mysql -u DATABASE_USERNAME -p DATABASE_NAME

For example, if your username is openemr and database is openemr:

bash

mysql -u openemr -p openemr

Enter the password when prompted (from the sqlconf.php file).

Step 4: Verify Connection

Once connected, you should see the MySQL prompt. Test with:

sql

SHOW TABLES;

This will list all tables in your OpenEMR database.

Alternative: Use Root Access

If the above doesn’t work, try connecting as root:

bash

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then switch to the OpenEMR database:

sql

USE openemr;
SHOW TABLES;

Note: Always backup your database before making any changes, and be cautious with direct database modifications as they can affect OpenEMR functionality.

5

I did it using the last date when it worked correctly for me.
I input
UPDATE users_secure set login_fail_counter = 0, last_update_password = “2026-02-13 12:53:00”, last_update = “2026-02-13 12:53:00” WHERE id = 1;
And got ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ‘12:53:00, last_update = 2026-02-13 12:53:00 WHERE id = 1’ at line 1

6

Hi @Yanara_Debora here is an Ai solution:
The issue is with the quotes you’re using for the datetime values. You’re using smart quotes (curly quotes) instead of straight quotes (standard ASCII quotes).

In your query, you have:

sql

last_update_password = “2026-02-13 12:53:00”

But MySQL expects:

sql

last_update_password = '2026-02-13 12:53:00'

The fix: Replace the curly quotes (“ ”) with straight single quotes (' '):

sql

UPDATE users_secure 
SET login_fail_counter = 0, 
    last_update_password = '2026-02-13 12:53:00', 
    last_update = '2026-02-13 12:53:00' 
WHERE id = 1;

This is a common issue when copying SQL from word processors, websites, or other applications that automatically convert straight quotes to typographic (curly) quotes. Hope this helps.

7

Exact same problem, still.

8

Can you share a screenshot?