StephenW wrote:
I can no longer access su.
Then you have no access to root.
By the way, it's not the su password, it's the password for the
root account
I have only ever used one of two passwords. Neither of them will work today.
Suggestions for correction?
(1). use a recovery disk
(2). mount your root partition as a non-root filesystem.
(3). Use your favorite editor (vi, emacs, whatever) to edit the
file {mountpoint}/etc/passwd and on the line that starts:
root:
change it from something like either of these lines:
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
or
root:2HxFgnYkt7:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
to
root::0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
This wipes out the password field (the characters between
the 1st and 2nd ':' characters).
(4) If the password field was like in the first example (an "x"),
then ALSO do step (4a).
(4a) Use your favorite editor (vi, emacs, whatever) to edit the
file {mountpoint}/etc/shadow and on the line that starts:
then change the line that starts with root
to
root::::::::
(that's 8 ':' characters).
(5) reboot the system (WITHOUT the rescue disk), and then
(6) login to root
for the password, type nothing and just hit the return key.
(7) now that you are logged in as root, type the command
# passwd
this will allow you to change the password
(8) This is THE MOST IMPORTANT PASSWORD ON THE SYSTEM
REMEMBER YOUR ROOT PASSWORD!
MAKE IT SOMETHING THAT YOU *NEVER* NEED TO WRITE DOWN
(as usual, don't use the names of your pets, relatives,
cars, or anything else which could be guessed by someone
who knows you).
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