How to Reset Forgotten Root Password in Ubuntu Linux

Statistics say that almost 25% of people usually forget their
computer’s password within 14 days after a clean OS installation.
So don’t panic if you can’t remember the root password of your
Ubuntu Linux. Moreover, if you are a Linux system administrator, very often,
you may get the forgotten password issue from your clients.
Resetting the forgotten root password in Ubuntu Linux is not
unethical when you need to enter the system. But of course, that
doesn’t give you the right to break every computer and look inside
the system. You can reset the root password of a Ubuntu Linux
system without knowing the current password. ^[1]

Resetting Password in Ubuntu
Linux

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In Ubuntu, the system’s root password is written inside the root
directory of the Linux filesystem^[2]. The root password is
essential because you can not log in inside the system without the
password. Even, you can not assign any administrative tasks without
knowing the root password. In this post, we will see how to reset
the forgotten root password in Ubuntu Linux.

Step 1: Enter into Recovery Mode
in Ubuntu Linux

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To reset the Ubuntu root password, you need to restart your
machine and go to the GNU GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) menu. You
may need to find the boot menu hotkey^[3]
for your system. Once the boot menu is opened, select
“Advanced options for Ubuntu” and hit the Enter
button. If you can’t find the boot menu from your system, make sure
that the appropriate bootloader^[4]
option is enabled from your BIOS settings.

In this step, a new window will open, and you will see some
drop-down menu for the recovery option. Select the generic recovery
mode. In my case, I am selecting the “Ubuntu, with Linux
5.4.0-40- generic (recovery mode)“. You may notice that
there are two options to reach the recovery mode. You can choose
only one option according to your Linux kernel and direct-access
storage device (DASD) version.

Step 2: Access the root Directory of
Ubuntu Linux Filesystem

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After entering the recovery mode, some system checkups will
happen. Then you will be able to see the recovery menu of your
Ubuntu Linux. I should remind you that in recovery mode, you will
get the read-only permission of the filesystem. But no worries,
later we will see how to enable both read-write permissions.

Now, as we are going to reset the root password of our Ubuntu
Linux system, so we have to select the root menu from the drop-down
menu. Use the keyboard arrow keys to reach the root menu. Selecting
the root menu will let us use a shell prompt. We will use the shell
commands to reset our Ubuntu Linux password.

Step 3: Recover Root Password in
Ubuntu Linux

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As we have got access to the shell command, now we can reset the
Ubuntu root password through the command shell. Press the Enter
button to continue the password resetting process. Now we have to
mount, remount, and enable the read-write permission for the root
filesystem.

After mounting the root filesystem, we will now type the
password recovery command following by the system username. Here,
my username is ubuntupit, you have to use your
username. Then we will get an option to enter a new password. After
entering the new password, retype the password for security
purposes.

If everything is done successfully, you will be able to see a
message saying: “Password updated successfully.”
There you go! The process of resetting the root password of your
Ubuntu Linux is done. Now, reboot your system to continue.

~# mount -n -o remount,rw / 
~# passwd ubuntupit
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
~# reboot

Finally,
Insight

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When you forget the root password of your Ubuntu Linux, you may
think of deleting the operating system from your system and
reinstalling the entire system. But why would you do that while you
know the method of resetting the root password in Ubuntu Linux? In
this post, I have covered the concept of where the root password is
stored and how to reset the root password successfully in Ubuntu
Linux through the recovery mode.

For the newcomers, Ubuntu is a very adaptable distro of Linux.
You can apply much theoretical knowledge on Ubuntu to get the
pragmatic thrill of Linux. If you find this post useful and
convenient, please share this post on your social media. Also, you
can write any observations regarding this post in the comment
section.