[Swlug] forgotten administrative password
Bill Thomson
billthomson1951 at btinternet.com
Sat Feb 13 13:46:26 UTC 2021
Thanks Ben for your input. I have to say that it would be good to try
your suggestion of simply resetting the password within the current
installation, but I don't think my technical skills as they stand are up
to it! In spite of being a confirmed Linux user, Ubuntu first then Mint,
for many years now, I'm still quite a newbie when it comes to the
background stuff!
I'll have a look at the various books I have on Linux Mint and try to
learn a few basics about the root system and the command line to gain a
little confidence in the way forward that you so very kindly suggest :)
Thank you once again,
Best wishes,
Bill
On 10/02/2021 21:00, Ben Tullis via Swlug wrote:
> Hello. This may be a bit late, but it might help.
>
> If all you need to do is change the password that was originally set
> for a user account, there are other ways to do this that don't require
> a reinstall.
>
> The way that I would go about it is:
>
> * Boot to a rescue environment.
> * Mount your root partition to a directory in the rescue environment:
>
> e.g . (after making sure your are root)
> mount /dev/sda1 /target
>
> * Bind mount the virtual filesystems into this environment
>
> e.g.
> mount -o bind /dev /target/dev
> mount -o bind /dev/pts /target/dev/pts
> mount -o bind /sys /target/sys
>
> * Change your root into the target filesystem
>
> e.g.
> chroot/target
>
> * Change the password for the user
>
> e.g.
> passwd bill
>
> This will update the file /etc/shadow with the new password. Since
> your are already root you won't need to enter the existing password.
>
> * Exit the chroot and exit the rescue environment and reboot.
>
> You can use the Mint USB installer as a rescue environment,
> systemrescuecd, or you might be able to get in by just accessing your
> own grub boot menu options.
>
> Best wishes,
> Ben
>
> On 10 February 2021 16:50:52 GMT, Dick Bain via Swlug
> <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
> I presume you are using Mint already, if you are in the
> Applications - Accessories menu there is USB stick formatter and
> USB Image writer 😉
>
> When you have booted into the USB Image and start the installation
> you will be asked which installation type you want , here you
> choose Something Else which will take you to a partition manager
> where you can create a root partition / a /swap partition and a
> /home partition the root should be 20GB the swap 4GB and the home
> partition as big as you can make it 😉
>
> The instructions are
> https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install.html
> although it envisages you just making a root partition and a swap
> artition 🙄
> hope this helps
> Dick
>
> On Wed, 10 Feb 2021 at 16:28, Bill Thomson
> <billthomson1951 at btinternet.com
> <mailto:billthomson1951 at btinternet.com>> wrote:
>
> Thanks for your input team 😊
>
>
> I've downloaded Mint Cinnamon 20.1 onto the laptop and have
> checked the download is legit using the sha256sum and pgp
> links. I now wish to copy it onto a USB stick, but first I
> need to delete the old ISO from the stick or format the stick
> perhaps. How do I do that? In addition to that, may I please
> ask for details as to how to create a separate /home partition
> as suggested by both Dick and Marcus.
>
>
> Thanks team, look forward to hearing from you 😊
>
>
> Bill Thomson
>
>
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Dick Bain via Swlug" <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk
> <mailto:swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk>>
> To: "South Wales Linux User Group"
> <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk <mailto:swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk>>
> Cc: "Dick Bain" <dick.bain at gmail.com
> <mailto:dick.bain at gmail.com>>
> Sent: Saturday, 6 Feb, 21 At 13:03
> Subject: Re: [Swlug] forgotten administrative password
>
> I always create a separate /home partition so that it is
> okay to install the latest version onto the root partition
> and your user data will be safer, of course you must back
> up everything too 😉
> For preference I use Linux Mint or Ubuntu and so the user
> password is in the list of sudo-ers
> If you really want to retain the current Linux you can
> interrupt the boot process when grub comes up and follow
> the instructions from Jon 😉
> Dick
>
>
> On Sat, 6 Feb 2021, 11:56 Marcus Davage via Swlug,
> <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk<mailto:swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk>>
> wrote:
>
> I'd personally reinstall with the latest version
> having being downloaded on USB first. If you had
> separated the /home directory from / at the beginning,
> that would make life easier. If you hadn't, then back
> up the /home directory first, reinstall, then restore.
>
> I use Mint on all my kit at home, with a dual boot
> Windows partition.
>
> Best of luck!
> Marcus
>
> On Sat, 6 Feb 2021, 11:46 Bill Thomson via Swlug,
> <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk<mailto:swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk>>
> wrote:
>
> Hi team, I hope you're all well :)
>
>
> I have a slight problem. I installed Linux Mint
> 19.3 onto a friend's computer to create a dual
> boot (Windows/Linux Mint) capability. When I
> installed the Linux Mint 19.3, from a USB drive, I
> set an administrative password for future updates
> etc. However, I have forgotten the password I set,
> and the list of updates is now quite impressive!
>
>
> Is there any way of reminding myself of the
> password, or of changing it?
>
>
> Alternately, I could reinstall Linux for my
> friend. How do I go about doing that? Do I have to
> uninstall the original installation first, and if
> so, how?
>
>
> The very few files that are on the Linux
> installation have already been backed up onto a
> separate USB stick.
>
>
> I'd welcome your expertise on this knotty little
> problem please. It's obviously important that my
> friend's Windows installation stays intact.
>
>
> I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!
>
>
> Bill Thomson
>
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> Ben Tullis
>
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