reset root password

Question

I have a computer that has Ubuntu as the OS. I don't get a LILO screen and the computer boots straight from the BIOS to the GUI. I don't know how to get the terminal window. I don't know what the previous owner changed the ROOT password to, and apparently he changed ROOT to USER because it is listed in users as the administrator. Is there a way to reset Linux to the out of the box settings or do I need a startup disk?

possible duplicate of How do I reset a lost password (using recovery mode requires me to type the password)? — Pilot6, Jun 25 '15 at 18:43

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 25 '15 at 21:09

0

Pressing the F8 key usually shows the boot menu. Once in boot menu enter E to edit. Then in the line which says quiet splash append the following:

init=/bin/sh

Then continue to boot by pressing B. You will be logged in as the root user. From there enter the commands:

mount -o remount,rw /
passwd

Then enter the new root password and reboot the system.

edited Jun 25 '15 at 21:09

Andrea Corbellini

15,826

answered Jun 25 '15 at 19:19

sajinmp

99

reset root password

1 Answers1