HOW TO RECOVER A LOST ROOT PASSWORD WITHIN LINUX

A new system has been taken out of the box and root password is not known. One cannot log into the system because the root password has been lost.

Resolution
To resolve this issue, take the following steps:

1. Insert the OS Restore cd into the cdrom drive.

2. Reboot. You will need to power-cycle the system if you don’t have an open root shell already.

3. A screen will come up with a boot prompt. From here, type in “linux rescue” before the screen disappears.

ie: boot: linux rescue

4. A GUI (Graphical User Interface) will come up. Press the enter key to continue to restore the sysimage. Your root partition will mount under /mnt/sysimage

5. Select “ok” from the next GUI to get to the command line.

6. # cd /mnt/sysimage/etc

7. Set the terminal type before continuing.

#TERM=builtin_xterm

#export TERM

8. #vi shadow

9. Remove the encrypted password from the ‘root’ line. For example, change the line:

root:pXzVIQRTHlmRT.:6445::::::

to

root::6445::::::

Everything between the first two colons has to go. The above changes the root password to null.

10. Type “exit”. This will eject the cdrom and halt the system.

11. Remove the cdrom.

12. Power-cycle the system again.

When the system comes back up you will be able to login as root without a password.

Product
Linux

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Nakia Raleigh