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Date:      Wed, 07 Jun 2000 11:45:15 -0400
From:      Nathan Vidican <webmaster@wmptl.com>
To:        Chris Picton <Chris.Picton@usko.com>
Cc:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Hacking the root password
Message-ID:  <393E6E0B.24295722@wmptl.com>
References:  <393E5F09.263BF8B3@usko.com>

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Chris Picton wrote:
> 
> Hi
> 
> I have just taken over the administration of some unix systems.  There
> is a machine, running as a secondary name server on FreeBSD for which no
> record of the root password has been stored, so I can't log in to the
> box.  If it was a linux machine, I would boot off a floppy with
> init=/bin/bash and manually change the root password.  However, I have
> never used FreeBSD before.  How would I go about getting/changing the
> root password for this machine.
> 
> Regards
> 
> --
> Chris Picton
> Usko Communications Systems Developer
> Chris.Picton@usko.com
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message

halt the system during boot, and boot single-user mode, then mount the
root partition, and vipw; reset the root passwd, (or simply 'passwd
root'). An example below:

halt bootup, (press -s)
-> boot: -s  [enter]
-> /bin/sh [return] 
-> mount /
-> vipw
-> (or alternately) passwd root
-> reboot

That should do it for you, (you don't need a floppy).

Nathan Vidican
webmaster@wmptl.com
Windsor Match Plate & Tool Ltd.
http://www.wmptl.com/


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