At 20:14 27/11/2003, you wrote:
Sergio Najera wrote: > Is there any way to regain access to the server as root when the > root password no longer works? > > I've tried resetting the password at the front reset button beside > the LCD, and via the web interface with no luck. We have this problem with one of our cobalts recently and found that the /var/ directory had gone completely missing and within a short amount of time we couldn't boot it at all. New hard-disk and it seems fine.As someone else said, you're probably going to have to reach for the restore CD.
Missing /var directory or full /var directory is a common cause for login problems. You can avoid having to OS restore though. You need to take out the Cobalt hard-disk and mount it in another generic Linux system (e.g. a box with standard Red Hat linux and the appropriate IDE cables). Mount the Cobalt disk then either clear out the /var directory (if it's full) or create a new /var directory structure with correct directory/file permissions (if it's missing).
Then put the Cobalt disk back into the Cobalt server and you should get access again.
While the Cobalt disk is mounted in another Linux server you can also manually edit the password file to paste in a new encrypted password that you've generated somewhere else. I would advise staying away from doing this if you're not comfortable with editing password files though.
Dan