Topic: Root and admin password not the same

[cjvrensburg]

Hi,
My admin and root password has changed! i can login to server manager with my admin password.  but when i try to log onto the server itself via PUTTy or at the machine it self as ROOT it does not reconise my password.
I have tried resetting it as instructed on the wiki page. by pressing A at startup and entering single
but the machine continues to startup normaly.

Please help!

[piran]

Please be MUCH more specific.
...has changed... By whom or what exactly?
...log onto the server itself... What version SME?
...as instructed on the wiki... Exactly what page/part?

Note that the NUM LOCK does not stay in the same
state through the login process, so you may NOT
be inputting any required numbers. There may also
be a rare language/keyboard issue... so try using
the numerals on the main part of the keyboard.

Try to supply the forum with facts not emotion
and somebody will undoubtedly point you in the
right direction so that you can fix it yourself.

[CharlieBrady]

My admin and root password has changed! i can login to server manager with my admin password.  but when i try to log onto the server itself via PUTTy or at the machine it self as ROOT it does not reconise my password.

So you are actually saying that the root password has changed, but the admin password has not. That would only occur if someone had run the 'passwd' command as root. If that was not you, then somebody else has obtained root access to your system. The most likely way that would occur would be if you enabled public ssh access with passwords and admin access enabled, and you didn't set a very hard-to-guess password.

[cjvrensburg]

I had been running SME 7.4,  i upgrade throught the software process to 7.5 today. to see if it will resolve the problem.
this park of wiki:
Reset the root and admin password
1. Restart your server and at the beginning of the boot-up use the arrow keys to select the kernel you would like to boot into.

2. Press A , to allow you to append parameters to your grub boot settings.

3. Be careful not to change anything, only add the following after the A (Be sure to put a space before "single"):

  single
4. Press enter. you will be presented with a prompt.

5. At this prompt type the following two commands (each followed by a return). You will be asked to provide a new password. Reset both your root and your admin password and set them to the same value:

 passwd root
 passwd admin
Reboot your server and everything should be okay now.


my password is entered correctly.  caps and numlock state is taken into perspective.

if someone changed the passwd state in root. is there any way to change it back?  i do have public SSH enable for admins to access of site.  but password is quite hard.

[cactus]

if someone changed the passwd state in root. is there any way to change it back?  i do have public SSH enable for admins to access of site.  but password is quite hard.

Yes, the procedure you followed should work. (BTW a link to the article would have been fine too ).

[cjvrensburg]

That did not work.  anything else i can do?

[cactus]

That did not work.  anything else i can do?

I am sorry to say you most likely must have made a mistake, it should work. It has been used successful by many people before you, including me.

[cjvrensburg]

i tried it again, but the macchine just continues to startup after i enter "single".  i dont know what to do anymore

[janet]

cjvrensburg

That did not work.  anything else i can do?....
i tried it again, but the machine just continues to startup after i enter "single".  i dont know what to do anymore

Rather than saying "that did not work", please be more verbose and tell us what part did not work, what you did and did not see etc that you perhaps expected to see and so on.

Let's get a bit more accurate with what you are seeing and doing.
Are you able to see the kernel list displayed, and if so, can you press either the up or down arrow cursor keys, and can you stop the boot temporarily at the kernel selection list.
If yes, then:
Can you then press the  a  key and see the grub append boot prompt, with (on a sme8 machine) something like the following displayed ?

Minimal BASH like line editing is supported (more text)
grub append> ro root=/dev/main/root

Then you can type a space and the word single and press Enter  ?
Then after various boot messages scroll by, does your system stop at a command prompt like the following ?
sh-3.2#

If so, then you can enter the passwd commands to reset the passwords.
To leave type
exit
and the machine should boot up as normal.

If not then you have missed a step somewhere along the way.

[piran]

That did not work.  anything else i can do?

...re-install from scratch but use a much more secure password.

[cactus]

...re-install from scratch but use a much more secure password.

Or do not use plain passwords and use private-public key pairs, much safer than any strong password: http://wiki.contribs.org/SSH_Public-Private_Keys

[piran]

Or do not use plain passwords and use private-public key pairs, much safer than any strong password: http://wiki.contribs.org/SSH_Public-Private_Keys

Cactus is right but do this AFTER you have re-installed with
a MUCH stronger password. The private/public key pairs
technique is for your remote or PuTTY use not for while
you are at the machine itself. It's also quite complicated
to set up at first glance... Get yourself out of trouble
simply first;~)

[CharlieBrady]

i tried it again, but the macchine just continues to startup after i enter "single".

The machine should startup after you enter "single". It should stop at a root prompt (#) without asking you for a password. If that doesn't happen, then you probably haven't entered 'single' at the right place. Google for "grub single user mode" for lots of detailed explanations of booting in single user mode using grub.

[Stefano]

maybe a stupid idea but: OP said he can access server-manager with admin credentials..

did he try to change admin's password via server-manager? AFAIK it should change root's pwd too..

or, in case root's pwd is different from admin's one, it does not work anymore?

[cactus]

maybe a stupid idea but: OP said he can access server-manager with admin credentials..

That is strange...

did he try to change admin's password via server-manager? AFAIK it should change root's pwd too..

... as according to http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3759 you should not even be able to change your admin password using server-manager nor the user-password panel.

Besides that even if the password would have been changed like that single user mode should still work. I think OP is making a mistake somewhere, as the earlier link to the instructions does work as I stated earlier.

i can login to server manager with my admin password.  but when i try to log onto the server itself via PUTTy or at the machine it self as ROOT it does not reconise my password.

cjvrensburg, can you confirm you are using the admin username here?

[piran]

Cactus ...OP 'may' not be the owner of the kit,
for instance kit may be sited in a hosting farm.

[CharlieBrady]

Cactus ...OP 'may' not be the owner of the kit,
for instance kit may be sited in a hosting farm.

SME server is not suitable for use in a hosted environment. Ownership of the 'kit' doesn't seem to be relevant anyway.

[piran]

SME server is not suitable for use in a hosted environment. Ownership of the 'kit' doesn't seem to be relevant anyway.

I didn't advocate use of SME in a hosted environment.
Ownership of the kit would be relevant if the OP were
trying to amend something but too embarrassed or
otherwise unable to contact kit's owner/operator.
Decades ago I used to supervise what would now be
called a data switching centre. A similar situation was
discovered being attempted by one of the watchkeepers.

[cjvrensburg]

Thank for your help guys. I have reinstalled SME 7.5 with new password. everythinh back up and running again.