Question & Answer
Question
How can I reset a lost root password?
Answer
The root password can be reset in maintenance mode.
1) Boot in to Service (Maintenance) Mode:
A) Hardware Management Console (HMC) managed systems
Refer to the following technote to boot into Service (Maintenance) Mode:
B) Stand-alone systems
2) Access rootvg and start a shell, then change the password.
Some of the following steps are already covered in the HMC documentation, but are provided for clarity:
- Define your current system as the system console by pressing the F1 key and then press Enter.
- Select the number of your preferred language and press Enter.
- Choose Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery by typing 3 and press Enter.
- Select Access a Root Volume Group.
A message displays explaining that you will not be able to return to the Installation menus without rebooting if you change the root volume group at this point.
- Type 0 and press Enter.
- Type the number of the appropriate volume group from the list and press Enter.
- Select Access this Volume Group and start a shell by typing 1 and press Enter.
- At the # (number sign) prompt, type the passwd command at the command line prompt to reset the root password.
For example:
# passwd Changing password for "root" root's New password: Enter the new password again: - To write everything from the buffer to the hard disk and reboot the system, type the following:
sync;sync;sync;reboot
Related Information
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Document Information
Modified date:
08 November 2023
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