Reset user passwd when you don't know it

Posted by warren on Super User See other posts from Super User or by warren
Published on 2010-05-28T13:28:57Z Indexed on 2010/05/28 13:33 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 317

Filed under:

linux

|

passwords

|

password-management

|

passwd

I have a small problem. I have shared keys setup on my domain, so I never type my password to login anymore.

I've forgotten my password now. This is a problem because only my user can sudo. Password authentication for root has been disabled, so without my password, I cannot do maintenance on my web server.

Is there a way to reset my password as my [now only] key-authenticated user?

Specifically, can this be done on CentOS 4?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about linux

apt-get install and update fail

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I've got a problem with apt-get update and apt-get install ... commands . every time update or installing fails and errors are : Get:1 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg [198B] Ign http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable/main Translation-en_US Get:2 http://dl… >>> More
kernel module compiling error

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
sh@ubuntu:/home/ccpp/helloworld$ make gcc-4.6 -O2 -DMODULE -D_KERNEL_ -W -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-prototypes -isystem /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/include -c -o hello-1.o hello-1.c hello-1.c:4:0: warning: "MODULE" redefined [enabled by default] <command-line>:0:0: note: this is… >>> More
Build-Essentials installation failing

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I am having trouble accessing the several critical header files that show to be a part of the build process. The "Ubuntu Software Center" shows "Build Essentials" as installed: Next I did the following two commands, which did not improve the problem: ~$ sudo apt-get install build-essential [sudo]… >>> More
Updating Debian kernel

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I'm trying to update my Debian machine to 2.6.32-46 (which is the new stable). However, after doing apt-get update my apt-cache search linux-image shows me: linux-headers-2.6.32-5-486 - Header files for Linux 2.6.32-5-486 linux-headers-2.6.32-5-686-bigmem - Header files for Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem linux-headers-2… >>> More
Serial connection over a single USB cable (Windows to linux, or linux to linux)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm helping out with a project for an embedded device that only has USB and no serial. This device is running Linux. These days, when we need to connect to a serial port on a device we typically use a USB to serial adapter (on something like a phone system or a load balancing device, etc). I would… >>> More

Related posts about passwords

Fixing /etc/shadow with md5 passwords to sha512 passwords

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I recently upgraded an ubuntu server with many users to a recent version from a version from 2008. The server used to use md5 password hashes (e.g., the shadow passwords began with $1$) and now is configured to use sha512. I'd prefer to keep using sha512, but would like the old users to be able… >>> More
How to securely generate memorable passwords?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Whenever I need new passwords I use some tools to generate those, preferable memorable passwords, but I've been wondering how secure this might actually be. Using The xkcd random number generator is probably pretty bad, cat /dev/random is probably pretty good, but generating memorable passwords seems… >>> More
Gawker Passwords

as seen on Geeks with Blogs - Search for 'Geeks with Blogs'
There has been much news about the hack of the Gawker web sites. There has even been an analysis of the common passwords found. This list is embarrassing in many ways. The most common password was "123456". The second most common password was "password". Much has also been written providing… >>> More
Phishing Ploy Forces Twitter to Reset Passwords

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The microblogging site has reset some Twitter users' passwords after a phishing attack attempted to steal their login information. >>> More
Phishing Ploy Forces Twitter to Reset Passwords

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The microblogging site has reset some Twitter users' passwords after a phishing attack attempted to steal their login information. >>> More