Reset the Root Password (Dedicated Server Linux)

For Dedicated Servers acquired after 28.10.2018

In this article, you will learn how to reset the root password of your Dedicated Server (Linux) using the rescue system.

To reset the root password of your Dedicated Server Linux:

• Activate the desired server.

• Click Actions > Restart.

• Activate the Rescue System option.

• Click Yes. The server is booted into the rescue system.

• Use SSH to establish a network connection to your server. If you are using the Microsoft Windows operating system, you can use Putty to establish an encrypted network connection to your server.

• To get information about all disks, type the following command:

  rescue:~# fdisk -l

• Determine the root partition. The name of the root partition of a dedicated server with software raids is md126 or md2. The name of the root partition of a dedicated server with hardware raids contains the name sda2.

• To mount the root partition, enter the following command(s):

  rescue:~# mount /dev/MY_ROOT_PARTITION /mnt

  Replace the placeholder MY_ROOT_PARTITION with the name of the root partition of your device. Examples:
  
  Software-Raid:

  rescue:~# mount /dev/md126 /mnt/

  rescue:~# mount /dev/md2 /mnt/

  Hardware-Raid:

  rescue:~# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt

• For the next steps it is necessary to mount the partitions for /usr, /home and /var. To display the contents of the fstab file and determine the associated Devices, enter the following command:

  rescue:~# cat /mnt/etc/fstab

  The contents of the fstab file will be displayed. Example:

• Mount the partitions for /usr, /home and /var. Example:

  rescue:~# mount /dev/vg00/usr /mnt/usr mount
  /dev/vg00/var /mnt/var mount
  /dev/vg00/home /mnt/home

• Use the mount command to check that all partitions are mounted:

  rescue:~# mount
  /dev/ram0 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,block_validity,delalloc,barrier,user_xattr,acl)
  devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,relatime,size=8116868k,nr_inodes=2029217,mode=755)
  sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
  proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
  tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
  devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620)
  tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,mode=755)
  tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k)
  tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,release_agent=/lib/systemd/systemd-cgroups-agent,name=systemd)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices)
  cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer)
  systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=22,pgrp=1,timeout=300,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct)
  debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime)
  mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,relatime)
  fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,relatime)
  /dev/md126 on /mnt type ext3 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
  /dev/mapper/vg00-usr on /mnt/usr type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
  /dev/mapper/vg00-var on /mnt/var type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
  /dev/mapper/vg00-home on /mnt/home type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)

• Put the mounted partitions in a change root environment:

  rescue:~# chroot /mnt

• To set a new password, enter the following command:

  rescue:~# passwd

• Enter the new password and repeat it.

• Open the Cloud Panel.

• Click Actions > Restart.

• Activate the Current operating system option.

• Click Yes.