Folks,

After having successfully changed my root password, I find that I am able to login as root using either of the passwords. Everytime I try to change it, only the second instance gets altered, without anything happening to the first one.

Is there a way out for me?

Regards,
Mufy

2 root passwords? Do you happen to be using NIS? Whereas the original root password was set, but a NIS password is different?

Did you happen to set the password using the password command or yppasswd?

Do you have multiple entries for root in your /etc/passwd file? Like amfoster, I'm also interested to know what command you used to changed the root password.

I used the normal command which is 'passwd'.

Regards,
Mufy

And can you post the contents of your /etc/passwd file?

This is how my /etc/passwd looks,

/etc/passwd
----------------
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
news:x:9:13:news:/etc/news:
uucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/sbin/nologin
operator:x:11:0perator:/root:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin
gopher:x:13:30:gopher:/var/gopher:/sbin/nologin
ftp:x:14:50:FTP User:/var/ftp:/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:/sbin/nologin
rpm:x:37:37::/var/lib/rpm:/sbin/nologin
vcsa:x:69:69:virtual console memory owner:/dev:/sbin/nologin
nscd:x:28:28:NSCD Daemon:/:/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:74:74:Privilege-separated SSH:/var/empty/sshd:/sbin/nologin
rpc:x:32:32:Portmapper RPC user:/:/sbin/nologin
rpcuser:x:29:29:RPC Service User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
nfsnobody:x:65534:65534:Anonymous NFS User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
pcap:x:77:77::/var/arpwatch:/sbin/nologin
mailnull:x:47:47::/var/spool/mqueue:/sbin/nologin
smmsp:x:51:51::/var/spool/mqueue:/sbin/nologin
apache:x:48:48:Apache:/var/www:/sbin/nologin
webalizer:x:67:67:Webalizer:/var/www/usage:/sbin/nologin
dbus:x:81:81:System message bus:/:/sbin/nologin
xfs:x:43:43:X Font Server:/etc/X11/fs:/sbin/nologin
named:x:25:25:Named:/var/named:/sbin/nologin
ntp:x:38:38::/etc/ntp:/sbin/nologin
gdm:x:42:42::/var/gdm:/sbin/nologin
radvd:x:75:75:radvd user:/:/sbin/nologin
radiusd:x:95:95:radiusd user:/:/bin/false
ldap:x:55:55:LDAP User:/var/lib/ldap:/bin/false
postgres:x:26:26:PostgreSQL Server:/var/lib/pgsql:/bin/bash
squid:x:23:23::/var/spool/squid:/sbin/nologin
fax:x:10:14:mgetty fax spool user:/var/spool/hylafax:/sbin/nologin
dialup:x:501:505::/home/dialup:/bin/bash
mysql:x:100:101:MySQL server:/var/lib/mysql:/bin/bash
alias:x:502:506::/var/qmail/alias:/sbin/nologin
qmaild:x:503:506::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
qmaill:x:504:506::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
qmailp:x:505:506::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
qmailq:x:506:507::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
qmailr:x:507:507::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
qmails:x:508:507::/var/qmail:/sbin/nologin
vpopmail:x:509:508::/home/vpopmail:/sbin/nologin
clamav:x:46:46:Clam AntiVirus:/tmp:/sbin/nologin
spamd:x:510:509::/home/spamd:/bin/false
fetchmail:x:511:511::/home/fetchmail:/bin/bash
ldapuser:x:512:100::/home/ldapuser:/bin/bash
mufeed:x:513:502:Mufeed:/home/mufeed:/bin/bash
oracle:x:1005:1008:Oracle Software Owner:/opt/oracle:/bin/bash

Regards,
Mufy

You might try deleting the 2nd field from the /etc/shadow file on root's account. ( so that it reads
root:: and then the numbers)

After that, login as root (there will be no password) and then use the passwd command to set a new password.

Then I would look at the /etc/shadow file again to make sure there is an entry in the 2nd field.

I see an entry for ldap. Are you authenticating using ldap? rather than the standard UNIX type authentication?

Frankly speaking I have no clue what ldap is for? What's it for anyway?

Regards,
Mufy

ldap is used as a system for authentication. It works with UNIX and Windoze. It is a server and the users on remote machines when authenticating, reach across the network and use the ldap settings.

You can authenticate using the traditional passwd file, NIS's yppasswd, lvia an ldap server, or a kerberos server.

I tried that dude, but no difference. I still am unable to change my first password.

Regards,
Mufy