Tuesday 23 February 2010

Recovery root password

It happens sometime that you can't remember root password. On Linux, recovering root password can be done by booting Linux under a specific mode: single user mode.
This tutorial will show how to boot Linux in single user mode when using GRUB and finally how to change root password. 

During normal usage, a Linux OS runs under runlevels between 3 and 5 which correspond to various multi-user modes. Booting Linux under runlevel 1 will allow one to enter into a specific mode, single user mode. Under such a level, you directly get a root prompt. From there, changing root password is a piece of cake. 
01. Start your PC at the boot loader press the space bar before 5 seconds 
02. Press “p” and give the boot loader password
03. Press “a” to modify the kernel arguments before booting 
04. At the end of the line add the word single or 1grub append> ro root=/dev/lvm/logvol01 rhgb quiet 1
05. It will be logged on as root user
06. Change the root password (As root, changing password does not ask for your old password, therefore running the command :)#passwd

No comments:

Post a Comment