09/20/96 Recovering the Root Password in AIX 4.1 SPECIAL NOTICES Information in this document is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of this writing. Please send feedback by fax to "AIXServ Information" at (512) 823-4009. Please use this information with care. IBM will not be responsible for damages of any kind resulting from its use. The use of this information is the sole responsibility of the customer and depends on the customer's ability to eval- uate and integrate this information into the customer's operational environment. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT This guideline was written under the assumption that you have the key to your RISC System/6000 and that you know how to use a UNIX editor. The vi editor is assumed in these steps. RECOVERING THE ROOT PASSWORD 1. Turn the key to the Service position. 2. With BOOTABLE MEDIA OF THE SAME VERSION AND LEVEL AS THE SYSTEM, boot the system. The bootable media can be ANY ONE of the following: o Bootable cdrom o NON_AUTOINSTALL Mksysb o Bootable Install Tape Follow the prompts to the "Welcome to Base OS" menu. 3. Choose "Start Maintenance Mode for System Recovery" (Option 3) The Next Screen will prompt the "Maintenance" menu. Choose option 1: "Access a Root Volume Group" The next screen will print a warning message and ask you to select 0 to continue. Select 0. "0 Continue" The next screen will ask you to select the proper volume group. Select the proper volume group for your machine. The console will display information about rootvg, and also display a Menu with two Options. Choose option 1: Recovering the Root Password in AIX 4.1 1 09/20/96 "Access this volume group and start a shell" If you get errors from the above option, do not continue with the rest of this procedure. Correct the problem or if you need assistance correcting the problem contact one of the following: o local branch office o your point of sale o 1-800-CALL-AIX (to register for fee-based services) All of the above avenues for assistance may be billable. 4. Set the TERM variable to match the terminal you are using. You will need to know the terminal type, such as "lft" or "ibm3151". To set the TERM variable, enter the fol- lowing, replacing "" with the appropriate value: TERM= export TERM Setting TERM to the correct terminal will allow vi to work properly. 5. Edit the file /etc/passwd: vi /etc/passwd 6. Remove the exclamation mark from the root entry. The original entry looks like this: root:!:0:0::/:/bin/ksh The modified entry should look like this: root::0:0::/:/bin/ksh 7. Save the /etc/passwd file: :wq 8. Edit the file /etc/security/passwd vi /etc/security/passwd 9. Remove the stanzas under root for the lines: root: password = 2hzANCGzF1/GY lastupdate = 746199169 The modified entry should look like this: root: Recovering the Root Password in AIX 4.1 2 09/20/96 10. Save the /etc/security/passwd file: :wq | NOTE: WARNING - If you have password restrictions, | maxage, minage, minalpha ...etc. as defined in the | /etc/security/login.cfg file set to non-zero values, the | modified root stanza should look like: | root: | flags=NOCHECK | Leave the NOCHECK flag in passwd file until you have | successfully re-booted your system, logged in as root | and set a new paswork for the root user using the passwd | command. | 11. With the key in Normal position, issue the reboot | command: sync;sync;sync;reboot 12. Log in as root and issue the "passwd" command to get a new root password. Recovering the Root Password in AIX 4.1 3 09/20/96 READER'S COMMENTS Please fax this form to (512) 823-4009, attention "AIXServ Informa- tion". You may also e-mail comments to: elizabet@austin.ibm.com. These comments should include the same customer information requested below. Use this form to tell us what you think about this document. If you have found errors in it, or if you want to express your opinion about it (such as organization, subject matter, appearance) or make sug- gestions for improvement, this is the form to use. If you need technical assistance, contact your local branch office, point of sale, or 1-800-CALL-AIX (for information about support offer- ings). These services may be billable. Faxes on a variety of sub- jects may be ordered free of charge from 1-800-IBM-4FAX. Outside the U.S. call 415-855-4329 using a fax machine phone. When you send comments to IBM, you grant IBM a nonexclusive right to use or distribute your comments in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you. NOTE: If you have a problem report or item number, supplying that number may help us determine why a procedure did or did not work in your specific situation. Problem Report or Item #: Branch Office or Customer #: Be sure to print your name and fax number below if you would like a reply: Name: Fax Number: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ END OF DOCUMENT (lost.root.passwd.41.cmd) Recovering the Root Password in AIX 4.1 4