Forget root password

[Mr Loiuce Choy]

How can I get the root password if I forget it ??

[Stefan Farrelly]

You will have to reboot your server, interrupt the boot sequence when it says you have 10 seconds to do so, boot from the primary boot device, answer Y to interact with IPL, then boot into single user mode by doing;
hpux -is

This will boot and log you in as root without a password, then you can reset the password and reboot back to normal.

[James Beamish-White]

Restart in single user mode and change the password.

Procedure is something like:
Reboot
Interrupt
Interact with ISL
boot using hpux -is

But that's from memory :-)

Cheers!
James

[Paul Thomson_2 · Accepted solution]

I normally try..
reboot system
When system boots you will get a 10sec interupt boot process press a key at
this time.
enter
01) bo pri
02)Y - to interact with ipl
03)isl> hpux -is will boot to single user
passwd root
or
fix whatever is needed then do
#/sbin/reboot

[RAC_1]

Go into single user mode and change it.

interrupt the boot sequence, interact with ISL say hpux -is
you get the root prompt directly. change the password.

You also should have root equivalaent for such incidents.

Regards

[Mr Loiuce Choy]

but i don't want to change the old password becos I am not sure how many adminstrator is managing the system. Can I view the original password ??

[James Beamish-White]

No, you cannot 'view' the password. If other administrators are using it, you should ask one of them.

Otherwise, you'll need a brute force cracking program (like "Crack!") to try and find te password.

Cheers!
James

PS: Remember to assign points to the bunch of people who helped

[RAC_1]

I am sorry you can not see the password. With the help that we all have provided you can change it but can not view it.

You can use some programs like crack to get it, but not a good way.

Regards,

[Scott_14]

If you have other administrators who access your system, ask them for the password, but if you dont know who actually is accessing it, go a head and follow what others are telling you, to get to single user, and log in and change it.
Then if another administrator tries to log in and cant, they may call you, and then you will know who is tring to get in as root, and then you can change the password back to the orginal one by asking them.

[Trond Haugen]

In my opinion it is not good to have several system administrators on a system. But it may work fine for you. And it means you can ask one of them for the password. If you are the main SA I would go for the boot in single user methode and announce the new password to those who should know it.
With several SAs there are more often leaking of passwords to those who shouldn't have it too.

Regards,
Trond

[K.Vijayaragavan.]

Hi,
As there are too many administrators, ask one of them the root password.That is only the solution, if you don't want to change the existing password.

Regards,

K.Vijayaragavan.

[Sanjay_6]

Hi,

To reset the root password, reboot the system in single user mode and then change the password. While booting into single user mode, it won't ask you to supply the root password.

Hope this helps.

regds

[Christian Schulze]

before thinking about reboots, try to rlogin from other hosts you have access to. Also, if you or other admins use Exceed or anything similar, there might be a stored access to the system.

when on the system just change the password; others will then ask for the new password. btw. This way you get an overview of how many people have/want root-access

This way a reboot is not necessary, which might not be possible on production systems ...

viewing a password is not possible, as stated by others

Christian

[Peter Hakesley_2]

As everyone has said before reboot into single user mode
1. interupt boot process.
2. hpux -is
3. Interact with ISL yes.
4. At # prompt issue passwd root
5. Chnage passwd to whatever
6. /sbin/reboot

This does work had to do it only a couple of weeks ago.

[Jason Johnson_2]

I have done the following procedures, but it is asking me for a login. What can I do to fix this?

[John Meissner]

log in with any user account and copy the /etc/passwd file and run a cracker on it. He's one that runs on windows - see attached