Learn How To Reset Forgotten password in Ubuntu Linux

Tutorial 12 -​​ Reset Forgotten password in​​ Ubuntu​​ Linux

What you will Learn:

  • Why reset password​​ ?

  • Reset root password

  • Reset superuser password

  • Verify whether superuser password is successfully reset

  • SSH using new superuser password

Why reset password​​ ?

If you have forgotten superuser password, you can reset it. The​​ password reset​​ process is divided into 2 sections:​​ 

1) Reset root password​​ 

2) Reset superuser password

Reset root password

Step 1:​​ On Ubuntu VM, click​​ X​​ icon

Step 2:​​ Select ‘Power off the machine’

Step 3:​​ Click OK​​ button​​ that you see above

Step 4:​​ Start the​​ VM​​ machine

Step 5:​​ Keep pressing escape​​ ‘Esc’​​ key​​ till you get below screen

Step 6:​​ Press 'e'​​ key to get the below screen

Step 7:​​ Scroll down​​ using down arrow key​​ until you​​ see​​ the line that begins with 'linux /boot/vmlinuz', see below

Step 8:​​ In the above highlighted section, you can see the text​​ 
"ro quiet splash $vt_handoff"

Step 9:​​ Press the​​ right arrow key​​ to bring the cursor to the starting of​​ "ro quiet splash $vt_handoff"​​ 

Step 10:​​ Delete the text "ro quiet splash $vt_handoff"
Step 11:​​ Replace the​​ above​​ text with “rw init=/bin/bash

Step 12:​​ Reboot​​ by pressing​​ F10 or Ctrl +​​ x

Step 13:​​ Execute ‘passwd’ command to reset​​ root​​ password
MEMORISE THIS ROOT PASSWORD FOR LATER USE

Step 14:​​ Reboot by​​ executing​​ exec /sbin/init’​​ 

SO WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RESET THE ROOT PASSWORD.

Reset superuser password
We will next reset​​ superuser password​​ (also user password).

Step 15:​​ Once reboot​​ is​​ complete,​​ click​​ X​​ on Ubuntu machine

Step 16:​​ Select ‘Send the shutdown signal’

Step 17:​​ Click OK

Step 18:​​ Start​​ Ubuntu machine

Step 19:​​ Keep pressing escape key till you get below screen

Step 20:​​ Using the arrow key, select ‘Advanced options for Ubuntu’, see below

Step 21:​​ Hit Enter

Step 22:​​ Select recovery mode option​​ as​​ seen below

Step 23:​​ Hit Enter

Step 24:​​ After sometime below screen would come up.​​ Select​​ root​​ as seen below

Step 25:​​ Hit Enter​​ 

Step 26:​​ Below screen comes up​​ asking us to ‘Give root password for maintenance”

STEP 27:​​ Enter root password that we had reset above​​ and​​ Hit Enter

STEP 28:​​ You should be able to​​ see the root prompt, see below​​ 

STEP 29:​​ Execute​​ mount​​ -o​​ remount,rw /​​ command​​ and hit Enter

STEP 30:​​ Execute​​ passwd <username>’ to change superuser password. This will also be the user password

NOTE 1:​​ MEMORISE THE​​ SUPERUSER​​ PASSWORD.​​ YOU WOULD BE NEEDING THIS​​ PASSWORD WHEN YOU EXECUTE Sudo COMMANDS.​​ 
NOTE 2:​​ SUPERUSER​​ PASSWORD​​ IS ALSO YOUR NORMAL​​ USER​​ PASSWORD

STEP 31:​​ Execute ‘reboot'​​ command​​ and Hit Enter


SO WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RESET THE​​ SUPERUSER​​ PASSWORD.

Verify whether superuser password is successfully reset

STEP 32:​​ After system reboots, open terminal and execute​​ 
sudo -i’ command, type the new​​ superuser​​ password​​ and​​ hit Enter.​​ You should be able to successfully login and enter the root prompt. This​​ verifies​​ that we were able to successfully reset superuser password

STEP 33:​​ Note down​​ the​​ IP address

STEP 34:​​ Exit​​ to​​ come out from​​ superuser​​ session

SSH using new superuser password

Let us see if we can SSH to the new ip address​​ using the new superuser password.​​ 

Let us open Git bash terminal.​​ 

See below, we are able to SSH using the new ip address and new​​ user​​ password. We are also able to login as superuser by executing ‘sudo -i’ command

Let us execute the same commands from OpenSSH client. We are successful here as well

Finally, click​​ X​​ on Ubuntu machine

You can choose ‘Save the machine state’ and click Ok

Thank you for reading!

Share On

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp
Share on tumblr
Share on email

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top

Lifetime Membership Club

LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP BIG SALE - ALL LIVE COURES JUST - 7000 RS/ 99 USD
Attend All Live courses in just 7000 rs / $99 - offer ends 1st Nov 2024