[K12OSN] Wish my Centos5 server was a Mac

[Alan Hodson]

Thanks Les, Tim and Nils. With this good info I ought to be able to get 
things going once I am back in the office - You guys rock!
cheers
Alan
-=o=-

Les Mikesell wrote:
> Alan Hodson wrote:
>> Howdy list
>>
>> Wishing a perfectly good Centos5 server was a Mac server applies only 
>> to the ease of re-setting the root/admin password with the boot disk. 
>> The mounting /etc/shadow and blanking out the password content 
>> (between :: ::) does not seem to work for the machine I have. Tried 
>> Knoppix and PCLinux Live CDs to no avail...
>>
>> Does anybody have a solution to change root password via a passwd 
>> reinstall or reactivation or some such measure?
>
> 1st choice:
> Hit a key to bring up the grub boot menu. Highlight the entry you want 
> to boot, hit 'e', move to the kernel line, hit 'e'.  Add ' single' to 
> the end of the line, then hit 'b' to boot.  You'll get a root shell 
> prompt where you can run the passwd command.  Type 'exit' to quit and 
> reboot.
>
> 2nd choice - good for more complicated damage:
> Boot the install CD with 'linux rescue' at the boot prompt.  Let it 
> mount the installed system.  Type the chroot command that it will 
> suggest.  Do whatever maintenance you need to fix the system.  Type 
> 'exit' twice when done (once to exit the chroot shell, once for the 
> top level).
>