> ----------
> From: John Aldrich[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: 06 September 1999 16:03
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED - help - root password forgotten, etc
>
> On Sun, 05 Sep 1999, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> > (1) There I was, in the wee-small-hours of Sunday morning, after a VERY
> easy
> > installation process during Saturday, happy and contented. I decided
> that my
> > root password was not 'secure' enough and changed it on my new system.
> Another
> > 'obvious' password, so, naturally, I didn't write it down! That's not
> secure!
> > Sunday afternoon, I went back to the system...
> >
> > Can I get back inside the system without a complete re-installation?
> > The only saving grace is that it is a NEW, NEW, NEW system with 'nothing
> to
> > lose'.
> >
> At the LILO prompt, type "linux 1" and that should put you into
> "single-user" mode where you can change the password again, then
> reboot. :-)
>
I'd like to point out that some distro's (notably SuSE) have set-up
single-user mode to require entry of the root-password aswell. In such a
case you'd better hope you have a boot/root disk from which you can boot.
mount the root partition to /mnt:
# mount -t ext2 /dev/hda1 /mnt
then edit the file /mnt/etc/passwd
and remove the password filed for the user root. Dont leave any spaces or
characters inbetween the two colons. Reboot the system, login as root with
an empty password and run
# passwd
That should do it, me thinks
--
Maurice Hendrix
snailmail: Fuji Photo Film BV Standard disclaimers apply
Dept. P1LPI
attn. M. Hendrix
PO Box 90156
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