[ale] OT: how to reset root pw on os X

James Sumners james.sumners at gmail.com
Tue Sep 16 23:59:51 EDT 2008


Unless he explicitly setup a root account, the first user basically
_is_ the root account. Open a terminal and type `sudo su`, supplying
the admin user's password when prompted. He will then be "root".

On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 11:05 PM, Tim Watts <timtw at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have an artist friend with a bunch of OS X machines who can't remember his
> root's password. His user account has admin privileges and so has never
> needed it.
>
> Does anyone know how one would do this? On SuSE I would boot off a CD, go into
> rescue mode and tinker with the shadow passwd file. Does OS X have a similar
> thing?
>
> His network is not set up to allow me to ssh into his systems so any
> step-by-step details anyone could provide would be most appreciated.
>
> Thanks.


-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59


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