I forget my root password of Redhatlinux7.1(Stand alone machine).Can any body tell me how can I access it .And now how can I change new root password.
Please help me.:o

Really theres not alot you can do, you might be able to have your datacenter run a password cracker on it, or maybe higher a security expert to find a hole and crawl into it.. But that option isn't exactly cheap and not very secure......

Really if the box is still up, email all your users and have them backup their files, and then reinstall the os........

Can't you start Linux up in single mode and change the password at the bash prompt? We do it for our colo customers.

I haven't done that in RH 7.1 but as I remember sometimes fixes like that are shut off but then again like I said, haven't done that on RH 7.1 boxes....

This is something for which you need to bring in someone that knows a thing or two about Linux, and can get on the console.

Really all that has to be done is to boot off something like an installation CD, mount the server's root filesystem, and modify the shadow password file with the (encrypted) password of choice.

When the linux machine is started up, at the boot: prompt on the console, type linux single and press enter.

Once, you reach a shell, type passwd and enter your new password.

Originally posted by JTY
When the linux machine is started up, at the boot: prompt on the console, type linux single and press enter.

Once, you reach a shell, type passwd and enter your new password.

You can do that?

Yeah, it's easy.

That is what I thought too (I have done it about 100 time myself) :)

mithilesh, if for what ever reason you cant get the password reset that way, contact me on icq# 51400629 and ill put you in contact with a hacker who might be able to help you.

Thanks for your help .I changed my password after starting my system in single mode.

Thank you.

Originally posted by JTY
When the linux machine is started up, at the boot: prompt on the console, type linux single and press enter.

Once, you reach a shell, type passwd and enter your new password.

Interesting - it makes you think about the importance of physical security of the box.

Originally posted by freakysid Interesting - it makes you think about the importance of physical security of the box.

Very true...

During an "outage" a machine could be rebooted, passwd changed or new 0 (root equiv) account added and then changed back(it's just a hash, copy & paste). Suprise, they now can play in your machine whenever they want...

Once you have physical access to a machine, all bets are off. You can easily boot off a floppy or CD-ROM, and mount the hard disk, doing whatever you wish to it.

However, if physical security is a concern there are some things you can do.

- Password protect the BIOS
This way you can prevent booting from Floppy/CD, write-protect the boot sector, etc

- Password protect LILO (or other boot loader)
You can configure lilo to require a password any time you try to pass options to the kernel or init. Grub has similar protections as well.

Now, if someone wants your data really bad, a phillips screwdriver comes in quite handy; they could open the case and wipe the BIOS, or just take the drive and mount it in another box...

Also consider, the better you lock out your system, the more difficult time you will have in the event you lose your root password.

Originally posted by freakysid
Interesting - it makes you think about the importance of physical security of the box.
Yup. The security of any compuer cannot be assured without first assuring the physical security of the box.