Reset user passwd when you don't know it

Question

I have a small problem. I have shared keys setup on my domain, so I never type my password to login anymore.

I've forgotten my password now. This is a problem because only my user can sudo. Password authentication for root has been disabled, so without my password, I cannot do maintenance on my web server.

Is there a way to reset my password as my [now only] key-authenticated user?

Specifically, can this be done on CentOS 4?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 01 '10 at 13:40

3

Aside from finding and exploiting a serious security vulnerability in Linux, I can't see how there could be a way to do this without physical access.

answered Jun 01 '10 at 13:40

SamsLembas

141

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '10 at 14:12

I have not done this in a long time so I might be wrong. You can reset the password by rebooting into single-user mode.

Here are some links:

http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/centos_linux_guides/centos_linux_step_by_step_guide/s1-q-and-a-root-passwd.html

http://www.centos.org/docs/5/html/Installation_Guide-en-US/s1-rescuemode-boot.html

Reset user passwd when you don't know it

2 Answers2