diff --git a/contriborbase b/contriborbase
deleted file mode 100644
index ef36a67..0000000
--- a/contriborbase
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-sme10
diff --git a/createlinks b/createlinks
index fdd8672..4a56869 100755
--- a/createlinks
+++ b/createlinks
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-binlog","root/usr/bin/mysqlbinlog");
 safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-convert-table-format","root/usr/bin/mysql_convert_table_format");
 safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-find-rows","root/usr/bin/mysql_find_rows");
 safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-fix-extensions","root/usr/bin/mysql_fix_extensions");
-
+safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-install-db","root/usr/bin/mysql_install_db");
+safe_symlink("/usr/bin/mariadb-embedded","root/usr/bin/mysql_embedded");
 
 #--------------------------------------------------
 # pre-backup actions
diff --git a/root/etc/e-smith/templates/var/lib/mysql.private/set.password b/root/etc/e-smith/templates/var/lib/mysql.private/set.password
index 897db0b..149cc09 100644
--- a/root/etc/e-smith/templates/var/lib/mysql.private/set.password
+++ b/root/etc/e-smith/templates/var/lib/mysql.private/set.password
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
     my $pw = esmith::util::LdapPassword();
 
     $OUT .= "use mysql;\n";
-    $OUT .= "SET PASSWORD FOR 'root'\@localhost = PASSWORD(\"$pw\"); \n";
+    $OUT .= "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;\n";
+    $OUT .= "CREATE OR REPLACE USER 'root'\@localhost IDENTIFIED VIA unix_socket OR mysql_native_password USING PASSWORD(\"$pw\"); \n";
+    $OUT .= "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO `root`@`localhost` WITH GRANT OPTION; \n";
+    $OUT .= "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;\n";
+    # will not work as requires the With_grant privilege.... but accepts second line to alter the table to give it...
+    #$OUT .= "GRANT PROXY ON ``@`` TO `root`\@localhost WITH GRANT OPTION;\n";
+    $OUT .= "REPLACE INTO `proxies_priv` (`Host`, `User`, `Proxied_host`, `Proxied_user`, `With_grant`, `Grantor`, `Timestamp`) VALUES
+     ('localhost', 'root', '', '', 1, '', current_timestamp()),
+     ('$SystemName.$DomainName', 'root', '', '', 1, '', current_timestamp());\n";
     $OUT .= "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;\n";
 }
diff --git a/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-initialize b/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-initialize
index 033d760..ba01477 100644
--- a/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-initialize
+++ b/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-initialize
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@
 exec 2>&1
 if [ ! -f /var/lib/mysql/mysql/user.frm ]
 then
-    setuidgid mysql sh /usr/bin/mysql_install_db --rpm --skip-test-db --user=mysql --group=mysql
+    setuidgid mysql sh /usr/bin/mariadb-install-db --rpm --skip-test-db --user=mysql --group=mysql
     if [ -f /home/e-smith/db/mysql/mysql.dump ]
     then
         /sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/e-smith/sql/init/00_restore_dumped_dbs
     fi
 fi
+
+# set root password and access to socket passwordless
+/usr/sbin/mariadbd --socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock --bootstrap --user=mysql < /var/lib/mysql.private/set.password
+exit 0
diff --git a/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-post b/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-post
deleted file mode 100644
index 4e9309a..0000000
--- a/root/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-post
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-for i in $(seq 1 20);
-do
-  if [ -S /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock ]
-  then
-      /usr/bin/mysql < /var/lib/mysql.private/set.password
-      echo  "root password set"
-      exit 0
-  fi
-  echo waiting for mariadb to start to set root password
-  sleep 1
-done
-echo  failed to set root password
-# we fail silently, mariadb will still work, only issue is for phpmyadmin
-# and non socket access
-exit 0
-
diff --git a/root/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/50koozali.conf b/root/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/50koozali.conf
index 2af674a..8c62a83 100644
--- a/root/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/50koozali.conf
+++ b/root/usr/lib/systemd/system/mariadb.service.d/50koozali.conf
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/mariadbd \
     --user=mysql \
      --pid-file=/run/mariadb/mariadb.pid
 
-ExecStartPost=-/sbin/e-smith/systemd/mariadb-post
-
 [Install]
 WantedBy=sme-server.target
 
diff --git a/smeserver-mysql.spec b/smeserver-mysql.spec
index 3bd9afc..b0f4e3b 100644
--- a/smeserver-mysql.spec
+++ b/smeserver-mysql.spec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Summary: Koozali SME Server specific mysql configuration and templates.
 %define name smeserver-mysql
 Name: %{name}
 %define version 11.0.0
-%define release 11
+%define release 12
 Version: %{version}
 Release: %{release}%{?dist}
 License: GPL
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 %defattr(-,root,root)
 
 %changelog
+* Fri Apr 04 2025 Jean-Philippe Pialasse <jpp@koozali.org> 11.0.0-12.sme
+- restore root user, pasword and socket login [SME: 12978]
+
 * Fri Mar 07 2025 Jean-Philippe Pialasse <jpp@koozali.org> 11.0.0-11.sme
 - upgrade to support mariadb 11.4 [SME: 12930]
   move mariadb-upgrade to mysql.init unit