Reset the root password: Fedora Server

This tutorial explains how to recover the root password on a Fedora Server.

Recover the root user’s password

During the Linux server boot, a boot screen like the one below will appear:

Press the “e” key to open the boot configuration edit mode as shown below:

Find the line that starts with “linux” or “linux16” or “linuxefi” and at the end add “rw init=/bin/bash” as in the example below:

Press CTRL + X to boot Linux with the new settings. The following screen should appear:

Enter the commands below to change the password:

passwd

Restore SELinux permissions with the following command:

/bin/sed -i s/"SELINUX=enforcing"/"SELINUX=permissive"/ /etc/selinux/config
touch /.autorelabel

Warning

If SELinux permissions are not restored using the above steps, the login process may fail and you will have to repeat the password procedure.

Then, reboot the server with the command below:

/sbin/reboot -r

Note

Use the command below only if you wish to enable SELinux.

After rebooting the server, log in as root and re-enable SELinux with the commands below:

sed -i s/"SELINUX=permissive"/"SELINUX=enforcing"/ /etc/selinux/config
setenforce enforcing