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how to log into linux without knowing the password?

hi,

just took over a PC here from someone i can't get hold of, who have left it to me. containing a 'red hat enterprise linux 3' installed inside as a stand alone machine.

problem is, when it has finished loading, and reaches the log-in screen where password is being prompted to be entered, I do not know the password that the previous user has set in order to get into linux desktop.

anyone who could help me around here? password cracks, or anything at all..appreciate it.

thanks.

you should log into "single-user mode" by giving the "single" option to the kernel. These will help you:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/e...ot-passwd.html
http://linuxgazette.net/107/tomar.html

one thing i forgot to ask.......how do i know what login does the user uses to login?

well, the password change works. just tried it moments ago.

secondly, is the login and password meant for root or as an ordinary user?

thanks guys

What you probably just changed was the root password. You can now log in as root using that password.

You can see which users are there usually by looking in /home or looking at the entries in /etc/shadow that have real password hashes.

As root, you can add users using the "useradd" command and you can change user passwords using

Code:

passwd <user>

by default, the root login would be " root ", and this can't be changed, am i right to say that?

okays, anyways, i'm on a local area network here connected to internet as well. so, how do I configure red hat linux enterprise linux 3 here to connect to the LAN?

thanks people

hi. when booting linux , u can use the edit (e) and have a try.

Quote:

by default, the root login would be " root ", and this can't be changed, am i right to say that?

Yes

Quote:

okays, anyways, i'm on a local area network here connected to internet as well. so, how do I configure red hat linux enterprise linux 3 here to connect to the LAN?

The GUI program for network configuration is 'redhat-config-network'. You can try running this as a command or it should be in the menus. If you don't have it installed try installing it with

Code:

up2date redhat-config-network

or

yum install redhat-config-network #assuming the guy you took it over from setup yum

You could also do it by editing the config files directly. The files are:
/etc/sysconfig/network - set hostname and default gateway, eg:

Code:

NETWORKING=yes

HOSTNAME=myserver.example.com

GATEWAY=192.168.1.1

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethX - where X is the number of the network interface you're using. They are numbered up from 0 so the first interface in your system will be eth0, the 2nd eth1 etc.
eg for static IP:

Code:

DEVICE=eth0

BOOTPROTO=static

IPADDR=192.168.1.2

NETMASK=255.255.255.0

ONBOOT=yes

NOZEROCONF=yes

for dynamic IP:

Code:

BOOTPROTO=dhcp

ONBOOT=yes

TYPE=Ethernet

Try:
1. Single-User Mode. Pass 'single' to the kernel.

Press E on GRUB entry.
Append 'single' to kernel parameters (end of 'linux' grub command)
Press Ctrl+X or F10 (Fn+F10 on laptops) to boot.

2. Init. Pass 'init=/bin/bash' to the kernel.

Press E on GRUB entry.
Append 'init=/bin/bash' to kernel parameters (end of 'linux' grub command)
Press Ctrl+X or F10 (Fn+F10 on laptops) to boot.

Well, they *do* say "better late than never", but I'm not entirely convinced... :rolleyes: