How to reset lost root password on Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus Linux - LinuxConfig.org

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This guide will provide you with an information on how to reset lost root ( administrator ) password on Ubuntu 16.04. This guide assumes that you have the actual physical access to your Ubuntu 16.04 Linux box.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-reset-lost-root-password-on-ubuntu-16-04-xenial-xerus-linux
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Allan Watson

Didn’t work, just end up at the same login every time on reboot.

3

Marie Brantley

I actually joined, but I don’t recall the password. I HATE passwords!

went through this operation. after I got the system going, it stopped it hit the following point and quit:

[OK] Started GNOME Display Manager.
[OK] Started Modem Manager.
[OK] Created slice User Slice of gdm.
Starting User Manager for UID 121...
[OK] Started Session c1 of user gdm.
[OK] Started User Manager for UID 121.

And then it just sits there and does nothing. HELP!!!

4

roman

I changed the password successfully but when got on it told me to enter the old password to access the keyring

5

Emaya

yeah i was jus looking for something like this
Worked like a charm
thank you very much

6

Jongbum Park

It worked like a charm. Thank you very much.
I did it for Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS that is a guest O/S of VirtualBox running on my Windows 7 machine.

7

Vibhav Ranjan

Doesn’t work for me. Everything goes fine until I reboot and go to login promt. When I enter new password at login prompt, after pressing enter screen goes black, see some lines for fraction of a second and again get the same login prompt. No error, just a beep like sound. Problem persists.

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arcanisgk -> Vibhav Ranjan

same problem

9

juju

After I put in bin/bash cntrl+x or f10 it sends me to reboot an I go to Ubuntu an the bin bash I type is reset when impress cntrl x a screen scrolls with lines of data then goes to my regular
page help

10

Pawel Stefaniak

Works perfectly, even for such newbie as I’m. Thanks a lot.

11

justsomeguy

Thanks a lot this worked for me. I used ctrl+x as f 10 took me to logon screen. Did it in VMware. Only thing is instead of passwd i used passwd followed by account name then changed the pass. Alternately once u get to the terminal prompt u can add a new user and assign it to root group if you want and unlock your original account if it’s not working for you. adduser (ur username) > enter pass > next command > usermod -aG sudo (ur username)

12

ritika hot

Please give me information how I login it- when I enter correct password then it create loop and shown same as entr password please help me

13

ritika hot

Administration password and update password are same entered.

14

The cool

It’s not working for me showing an error while running

# mount -o remount,rw /

15

Yves Silva

Thanks, this tutorial help me a lot! What’s happens when have “ro” instead of “rw” GRUP configuration? It’s that set on installation? I installed Ubuntu Server using expert mod, to skip the archive mirror configuration, because i can’t install in the normal mode…

16

Prince -> Yves Silva

“ro” stands for Read Only. “rw” stands for Read/Write

17

Falux-Bkk

Thank you big time! I got kicked out of the sudoers after adding myself to the ssh’ers I believe and none of my “usual” passwords worked for root, this saved me at least 2 days of starting a complete new setup!

18

pezza

f**king amazing someone who knows what they are talking about
thanx perfect good job bless ya

19

Ken Rubenstein

I cannot get the GRUB menu to show. Have tried SHIFT, Ctrl+x, F10. still no grub menu. Goes direct to login. Using 16.04

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Falux-Bkk -> Ken Rubenstein

Bit late but it’s left shift only that you need to hold till it shows up.