asked on

Password issue with Ubuntu

I removed the password on the one and only administrator account. Now when I am asked to authenticate, I type in the old password and the authentication fails. It also fails if I do not type in any password.

I tried to put the password back by going to settings ->users, but I can't unlock the panel without authenticating.

Is there a way around this problem? How can I put back the password so that I can authenticate?

I am using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Thank you.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

stergium

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Scott Thomson

hey buddy :)

This should help you
You will need to make a Linux live cd (which is also the standard Ubuntu cd these days)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhbRgyb3Ois

Surrano

Re stergium's comment: if the mount command doesn't work that way, try this instead:

mount -o remount,rw /

but I recommend accepting stergium's comment as final solution, assuming it helps of course :)

Lev Seltzer

ASKER

stergium: I was able to enter the password and can now authenticate. However, I am able to login without entering a password. Is there a way to change this? I used the "user settings" to change my password, but I am still able to login without a password.

Surrano

Can you edit your /etc/shadow file?
boot in single user mode to be safe
vi /etc/shadow
copy one non-empty encrypted password of a user (whose password you know) to root's entry.
save, exit, reboot.
This known password should be the only way to login as root.

Lev Seltzer

ASKER

First answer worked. Follow-ups were getting too complicated for me. Thanks for all the help.