[TriLUG] no root PW

Mike Johnson mike at enoch.org
Wed Apr 17 13:19:34 EDT 2002


Greg Brown [gregbrown at mindspring.com] wrote:
> Help.  I have just inherited a Red Hat 7.1 system and nobody knows the root 
> password.  I'd like to just scrape the system clean and start over but I 
> can't do that for a variety of reasons.  
> 
> Is it possible to reset the root password without damaging the file system?

First, try to boot into single user mode from LILO.  You might get
prompted for root's password, you might not.  It varies.

At the lilo prompt:
linux single

If that doesn't work, you can try another little trick:
linux init=/bin/sh

(These have been assuming that your 'default' image is called 'linux')

Failing that, just boot with a Red Hat CD of recent vintage in rescue
mode and go from there.

Mike
-- 
"Let the power of Ponch compel you!  Let the power of Ponch compel you!"
   -- Zorak on Space Ghost

GNUPG Key fingerprint = ACD2 2F2F C151 FB35 B3AF  C821 89C4 DF9A 5DDD 95D1
GNUPG Key = http://www.enoch.org/mike/mike.pubkey.asc
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