Description of Problem:

 -- it is not uncommon to find a customer with a lost MySQL admin level
password.  The recovery process is well explained in the MySQL documentation,
and in secondary sources.  Thinking about it, however, it is routin-izable awith
the addition of a new: /etc/sysconfig/mysqld parameter file to source.

(another approach would ne to add a start option 
    /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysqld nopasswd
to restart the mysqld with the '--skip-grant-tables' option

===========================

1. Uncomment the new option in the config file

(of the form:

# -- /etc/sysconfig/mysqld config file
#
#   1. Uncomment the following line to allow for a password reset
#   in the event of a lost mysqld admin password
#
#  LOSTPASS="--skip-grant-tables"
#
#    2. Stop the mysquld, and then start it again -- the option will
#    bring up the server without password restrictions
#
#    Then run:
#         /usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'whateve-passwd'
#
#     3. Then re-comment the LOSTPASS line, and 
#
#     4. Restart the mysqld server to apply the new password's protection.
#

2. Take down the mysqld server by stopping it:
    /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysqld stop

3.  Steps 3 and 4 listed above, of course ...

=============================

and edit the initscript at the top to source the new file:

#   Source the options file
. /etc/sysconfig/mysqld

and then in the shell script: /usr/bin/safe_mysqld  

toward the bottom, add the $LOSTPASS variable to the two relevant lines:

  if test -z "$args"
  then
    $NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --dat
adir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-locking >> $err_log 2>&1
  else
    eval "$NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION
 --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-locking $args >> $e
rr_log 2>&1"
  fi

---------------------------

yielding (see right margin ...):

  if test -z "$args"
  then
    $NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION --dat
adir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-locking  $LOSTPASS >>
$err_log 2>&1
  else
    eval "$NOHUP_NICENESS $ledir/$MYSQLD $defaults --basedir=$MY_BASEDIR_VERSION
 --datadir=$DATADIR $USER_OPTION --pid-file=$pid_file --skip-locking $LOSTPASS
$args >> $err_log 2>&1"
  fi

=================================

Alternatively, it may be documented and optioned in the started shell script
itself, but this breaks rpm -V since it is not a config file, and is not the
proper course.