SCO root password recovery

sandoz · 11-27-2002, 02:20 PM

Anyone know how to boot SCO into single user mode for the purpose of reseting the root password?

5amYan · 12-06-2002, 12:16 PM

can you su?
if so does sco use sysV runlevels?
try
/sbin/init 1

or no?
try
shutdown now
(to reentermultiuser here)
exit
or
fastboot

sandoz · 12-07-2002, 05:04 AM

no i cannot su. I cannot even log in. I found a way to boot into single user mode, but it requires the root pass.

Don't know if its sysV. Don't know too much about sco actually.

Might have to blow the box away.

5amYan · 12-07-2002, 01:59 PM

What version?
I remeber reading recently that SCO is one of the least hacked OSen...

what services are running?
How did the password get lost?

slick_willie · 05-20-2003, 03:13 AM

I have the same problem. A previous admin who has left set the root password, now I'm at a loss. Do any of you have password recovery info specifically for SCO?

moses · 05-20-2003, 04:31 PM

If you have access to the physical machine and a boot disk (probably any disk that can read the file system will be fine -- i.e., a Slackware boot disk may work). Boot with the boot disk, mount the partition that contains the passwd and shadow file, edit those files (empty the password field), then reboot SCO. Log in as root, set a new password.

[SCO rant]
By the way, in my opinion, you should ditch SCO for something more willing to play with others.
[/SCO rant]

slick_willie · 05-20-2003, 06:14 PM

Thanks for the reply. You wouldn't happen to know the directory the root password is usually kept in, would you?

moses · 05-20-2003, 06:43 PM

It's usually in /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow, depending on how the authentication works.