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!

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