Hi, I know there's a way to change the root password in linux. My question is, is possible to just find out the root password? I just want to know the password. Dont want to reset it.

thanks

There is a way, but you need to be the root user to do it. All the user accounts are listed in /etc/passwd but each account's password is one-way hashed inside /etc/shadow. Both files *must* be only readable by root for acceptable security.

If you have root access to the machine you can get a cracking software with a decent dictionary and have it work on /etc/shadow. Of course your results will vary depending on the complexity of the passwords and the dictionary you use.

For a decent password (i.e. 10-12 char, mixed alphanumeric+special characters) it WILL take a VERY long time to crack but you can always try

PS. This is sort of *common* knowledge, so I hope no one will feel threatened by this post. LOL

Are you the owner or administrator of the computer? If so how come you do not know your own root password?

this is called "password cracking". search for it

reddazz, no I don't own it. Just want to know the password so that I can edit its iptables. If this can be done without loging in as root, then I dont need the password anymore.

Learn about sudo.

If you do not own or administer the system, then you should get approval from those who do before attempting to modify the firewall. Cracking the admin passwords on a system that you do not own is a really good way to get into a lot of trouble.