Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Step By Step Guide

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Chapter 14. Frequently Asked Questions
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14.2. Forgotten root Password

Help! I forgot my root password. How do I log in now?
You can log in using single-user mode and create a new root password.
To enter single-user mode, reboot your computer. If you use the default boot loader, GRUB,
you can enter single user mode by performing the following:
1. At the boot loader menu, use the arrow keys to highlight the installation you want to
edit and type [A] to enter into append mode.
2. You are presented with a prompt that looks similar to the following:
grub append> ro root=LABEL=/

3. Press the Spacebar once to add a blank space, then add the word single to tell GRUB
to boot into single-user Linux mode. The result should look like the following:
ro root=LABEL=/ single

4. Press [Enter] and GRUB will boot single-user Linux mode. After it finishes loading,
you will be presented with a shell prompt similar to the following:
sh-2.05b#

5. You can now change the root password by typing

passwd root

6. You will be asked to re-type the password for verification. Once you are finished, the
password will be changed. You can then reboot by typing reboot at the prompt; then
you can log in to root as you normally would.
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