bypassing password on linux?

[BenWall]

Iv set up red hat, and when I come to put my username and pass in, its says its incorrect, i must have spelt it wrong, anyways. Is there a way of bypassing? like the safe mode admin on windows?

 

[SimonD]

If you know the root password, then log in as root and change the password for the non-root user (can't remember the exact command) or add a new user. You can copy any files in the home directory of the old user into the new uesr (using cp) and then change the ownership (chown) and permissions (chmod)

If you don't know the root password but have a boot floppy (you did create one, didn't you?) use that to boot the machine. Log in as root (you may need a password for this) and mount the hard drive (mount -a should do the trick). Once you have done that, cd into /etc and open the passwd file in vi or emacs. Find your username and delete the password (it will be a series of random chararcters). Then reboot without the floppy and you should be able to log in with no password. This is an old trick that I've used on all sorts of old systems where I've not known the root password, mainly Linux but also IBM AIX boxes.

 

[BenWall]

cracking, i didnt do what you said, but just typed in 'root' and then the password and im in, how do I chanege the ursername for my user now?

 

[Daz]

passwd username

 

[sn00p]

or just boot into single user mode and type passwd to set the root password.

 

[SimonD]

or just boot into single user mode and type passwd to set the root password.

Pah. Far too easy...

 

[KDF]

Pah. Far too easy...

Unless your sensible and set a booloader password.. which is standard practice for me