[Mediawiki-l] How to change a user password external script

[Piyush Varma]

Hi,
 
I have tried to change the user_password value for a user_name value of a particular user using PHP md5("password_value") function. But, it does not work.
 
I have also tried to use a 2-step process:
 
1: $p = md5( $password);
2: return md5( "{$userid}-{$p}" );    # to get the hashed password
 
The hashed password value does not match with the value in MySql user table.
 
The value of $password = "123qweA" and the user.user_password table value is fce34f65fd0acb4c716bc2305e47f7c2
 
While the value I derive using above 1 and 2 lines is 8021331ef9a813b4713630fb1c3ca0fc using $userid = "pvarma"
 
What should I do to change a user's password outside the MediaWiki web interface please?
 
Thank you,
 
Piyush