What to Do If You Forgot the Root Password

If you forget the root password and you cannot log into the system, you will have to do the following:

• Stop the system by using the keyboard stop sequence.

• Oracle Solaris 10: Boot the system from a boot server or an install server, or from a local CD-ROM.

• Mount the root (/) file system.

• Remove the root password from the /etc/shadow file.

• Reboot the system.

• Log in and set root's password.

If you forget the root password and you cannot log into the system, you will have to do the following:

• Stop the system by using the keyboard stop sequence.

• Starting with Solaris 10 1/06 release: On x86 based systems, boot the system in the Solaris failsafe archive.

• Oracle Solaris 10: Boot the system from a boot server or an install server, or from a local CD-ROM.

• Mount the root (/) file system.

• Remove the root password from the /etc/shadow file.

• Reboot the system.

• Log in and set root's password.

These procedures are fully described in Chapter 12, Booting an Oracle Solaris System (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

The following examples describe how to recover from a forgotten root password on both SPARC and x86 based systems.

Example 18-1 SPARC: What to Do If You Forgot the Root Password

The following example shows how to recover when you forget the root password by booting from the network. This example assumes that the boot server is already available. Be sure to apply a new root password after the system has rebooted.

(Use keyboard abort sequence--Press Stop A keys to stop the system)
ok boot net -s
# mount /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 /a
# cd /a/etc
# TERM=vt100
# export TERM
# vi shadow
(Remove root's encrypted password string)
# cd /
# umount /a
# init 6

Example 18-2 x86: Performing a GRUB Based Boot When You Have Forgotten the Root Password

This example assumes that the boot server is already available. Be sure to apply a new root password after the system has rebooted.

GNU GRUB  version 0.95  (637K lower / 3144640K upper memory)
 +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| be1
| be1 failsafe
| be3
| be3 failsafe
| be2
| be2 failfafe
  +------------------------------------------------------------------+
      Use the ^ and v keys to select which entry is highlighted.
      Press enter to boot the selected OS, 'e' to edit the
      commands before booting, or 'c' for a command-line.

Searching for installed OS instances...
    
    An out of sync boot archive was detected on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0.
    The boot archive is a cache of files used during boot and
    should be kept in sync to ensure proper system operation.
    
    Do you wish to automatically update this boot archive? [y,n,?] n
Searching for installed OS instances...

Multiple OS instances were found. To check and mount one of them
read-write under /a, select it from the following list. To not mount
any, select 'q'.

  1  pool10:13292304648356142148     ROOT/be10
  2  rpool:14465159259155950256      ROOT/be01

Please select a device to be mounted (q for none) [?,??,q]: 1
mounting /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 on /a
starting shell.
      .
      .
      .
# cd /a/etc
# vi shadow
(Remove root's encrypted password string)
# cd /
# umount /a
# reboot

Example 18-3 x86: Booting a System When You Have Forgotten the Root Password

Oracle Solaris 10: The following example shows how to recover when you forget root's password by booting from the network. This example assumes that the boot server is already available. Be sure to apply a new root password after the system has rebooted.

Press any key to reboot.
Resetting...
.
.
.
Initializing system                                                             
Please wait...                                                                  
                                                                                
                                                                                
                     <<< Current Boot Parameters >>>                            
Boot path: /pci@0,0/pci-ide@7,1/ide@0/cmdk@0,0:a                                
Boot args:                                                                      
                                                                                
Type    b [file-name] [boot-flags] <ENTER>     to boot with options            
or      i <ENTER>                              to enter boot interpreter       
or      <ENTER>                                to boot with defaults           
                                                                               
                  <<< timeout in 5 seconds >>>

Select (b)oot or (i)nterpreter: b -s
SunOS Release 5.10 Version amd64-gate-2004-09-30 32-bit
Copyright (c) 1983, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
DEBUG enabled
Booting to milestone "milestone/single-user:default".
Hostname: venus
NIS domain name is example.com
Requesting System Maintenance Mode
SINGLE USER MODE

Root password for system maintenance (control-d to bypass): xxxxxx
Entering System Maintenance Mode
.
.
.
# mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /a
      .
      .
      .
# cd /a/etc
# vi shadow
(Remove root's encrypted password string)
# cd /
# umount /a
# init 6