How to reset the Vtiger admin password from phpMyAdmin

I locked myself out of my Vtiger installation after a server migration. The admin credentials stopped working and I cannot access the reset password link because the outgoing mail server is not configured yet. I have access to phpMyAdmin though. What is the safest way to reset the admin username and password directly in the database without breaking anything?

Vtiger version: 7.4.0
MySQL: 8.0
Server: Ubuntu 20.04

You can safely reset the admin password directly in the database. Always take a full database backup before running any SQL.

Reset password to 'admin' (quickest fix):

sql

UPDATE vtiger_users

SET user_password = 'adpexzg3FUZAk', crypt_type = ''

WHERE user_name = 'admin';

This sets the password to admin. Log in immediately and change it to something strong.

Change both username and password:

sql

UPDATE vtiger_users

SET

  user_name     = 'newadmin',

  user_password = MD5('YourNewPassword'),

  crypt_type    = 'MD5'

WHERE id = 1;

Verify the user ID before running:

sql

SELECT id, user_name, is_admin FROM vtiger_users WHERE is_admin = 'on' LIMIT 5;

Best practice going forward: Create a second admin account while you are logged in. If one account breaks, you always have a fallback — no more database access needed.