Knowledgebase

Here we are seeing how to reset the root password of a Centos 7 server using single user mode. The method is mainly applicable for dedicated servers since there are options available in the control panel to reset the password for a VPS using any virtualization platform. 

1. Login to the IPMI and start the Java Console.
2. Reboot the server and in the grub menu, you need to select the option to edit by pressing 'e'.
3. There you can see some texts and you can find the following words in the 16th line:

   ro rd.lvm. lv=centos

4. Please remove 'ro' and add the following instead:

   rw init=/sysroot/bin/sh 

   so it will look like 

   rw init=/sysroot/bin/sh rd.lvm. lv=centos

5. Then press ctrl+x to start the single user mode.
6. There you will get a command prompt. Please type the following command there:

   #chroot /sysroot

7. Then reset the root password using passwd command:

   #passwd root

8. Update SELinux information by using the following command:

   #touch /.autorelabel

9. Then exit and reboot the system using the following:

   #exit
   
   #reboot

10. Once rebooted, you can log in to the server using the newly set password.

Here is the video tutorial for the same: https://bit.ly/2GkmsQf