Administrator Got FIRED need pwd 2

[Daire]

Hello guys,

I'm working part time in a small company and we got a BIG problem.
The manager fired the admin guy for some reason(dont ask) and i need admin access to the server but dont have the password and cannt get it.
How can i get around this?????
I have read the FAQ by d3funct but my knowledge isnt good enough to get it to work.
Can I use a boot disk and run a repair or something to reset the password without losing everything???

ANY help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Morsing]

Reboot the computer and when the lilo: prompt appears press <TAB>. Write 'linux single'. When it's up, change the password.

Cheers Henrik Morsing
IBM Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration

 

[eanda10]

Try booting into single user mode it should log you in as root and then use the passwd command.

please let me know if it helped!

 

[eanda10]

woops Morsing beat me to the punch

 

[Daire]

Thanks Guys

I'm an NT man at the moment looking to move to Unix and my knowledge isnt the best(actually I have basic UNIX commands only - but learning)

Can either of you give me some more help - thanks

 

[Morsing]

Where exactly are you stuck??

Step-by-step:

1. If in X (graphic mode) press <ctrl>+<alt>+<F1>.
2. Press <ctrl>+<alt>+<delete> to reboot.
3. If 'lilo:' doesn't show after a short while when booting then you need to hold down <TAB> to get the 'lilo:' prompt.
4. Type 'linux single' <ENTER>
5. System should start booting and give you a superuser prompt.
6. Type passwd
7. Enter a new password
8. reboot Henrik Morsing
IBM Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration

 

[fluid11]

Everybody above is assuming that your using LILO as your bootloader. Are you using LILO or GRUB? Here are the directions for either below. Turn the computer off and then turn it back on (use the 'shutdown -h' command). When you get to either the GRUB or LILO prompt, follow the directions below...





GRUB....

Booting into single user mode from the GRUB prompt to change root password...

1. Reboot the system, and when you are at the prompt where you can select which operating system, highlight the line for linux and press 'e'. You may only have 2 seconds to do this, so be quick.

2. This will take you to a similar screen with 3 entries, select the entry that begins with 'kernel' and press 'e' again. Append to the end of that line ' single' (without the single quotes). Make sure that there is a space between what's there and 'single'. Hit Enter and the new 'kernel' line should have 'single' at the end.

3. Press 'b' to boot into Single User Mode.

4. When the computer finishes it's bootup sequence, you must change the root (superuser) password to allow you into the system. There will be a 'sh- 2.05#' prompt (or something similar). Type 'passwd' and then enter the new password. It will ask you to retype the new password, do so. If it tells you that the password is BAD, and based on a dictionary word, ignore this, as it will accept the new password anyway. (you may want to think of a more secure password!). It will respond with 'passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully'.

5. Type 'reboot' and when the computer boots up without your intervention, you should be able to log in as 'root' with the password that you just entered.




LILO...

1. Shutdown your system

2. Boot into single-user mode by entering &quot;linux single&quot; (without the quotes) at the &quot;boot:&quot; prompt. Note that depending on how LILO is configured on our system, you might have to press Control-X as soon as LILO's graphical interface comes up, in order to exit the LILO graphical boot screen to see the &quot;boot:&quot; prompt.

3. Once the system boots, you should see a &quot;#&quot; prompt.

4. At the &quot;#&quot; prompt enter &quot;passwd root&quot; (again, without quotes). Follow the prompts to enter (and confirm) your new root password.





ChrisP

 

[Morsing]

Graphical lilo?!? No wonder I stopped using Linux Henrik Morsing
IBM Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration

 

[fluid11]

Morsing, what do you use now (don't even reply if its Windows)? Why is a graphical LILO a problem for you?

 

[Daire]

Thanks fluid11

I was looking to see what prompts were available this morning and I got a 'sh- 2.04#' prompt. I will try your idea as soon as I can.

Cheers

 

[Morsing]

I work with AIX. I haven't got a computer at the moment because I moved country not long ago.
I have been running AIX, BSD and Solaris at home but my main computer has been running Linux for six years. Planned on migrating to BSD before I left my home country but never got around to it, so it is actually still running a SuSE 6.0.

The problem with anything graphical is mainly two things.
If you don't have a graphical monitor it simply won't work. And yes, ascii terminals are still being used widely and has been the main method of connection at the three companies I have worked for so far.

Second problem (combined problem) is that graphical is inefficient and irritating to use and why make it graphical if it's not needed?!?!?!

Cheers Henrik Morsing
IBM Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration

 

[ronmon]

A Similiar Situation happened where i work. Just wondering how you got on. I have been rebooting and found now sign of this lilo or GRUB could you please let me know if there is a key or function i have to do during boot up. I am using RED HAT

Thanks

ronmon

 

[Daire]

Thanks all of you.

I booted into &quot;linux single mode&quot;
I got a # prompt and typed &quot;passwd&quot;
rebooted and logged in as root with new password.

So simple!!!!!!!!!!
Everything seems OK, I have root priveledges.

Can it be that simple???????

Thanks again to all.

 

[thedaver]

Just a quick note that if your terminated Administrator left the company pissed-off, I would recommend checking into passwords/usernames on stuff that he could reach externally. For example: routers, password-secured web pages, RAS dialup, PBX, and whole list of stuff that he/she could be evil with if they were that ignorant.

Best of luck.