upctry2

Q: reset admin password on xserve 10.7.5

Hi I reset my password 2 weeks ago and have used it several times. Today it won't let me in.

How do I go about resetting it. I have 10.6 server disc. not sure about 10.7.5.

I also have time machine backup if that would help.

 

Thanks

Martin

Xserve, OS X Server

Posted on Sep 4, 2015 11:24 AM

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Q: reset admin password on xserve 10.7.5

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  • by Antonio Rocco,Solvedanswer

    Antonio Rocco Antonio Rocco Sep 8, 2015 11:41 AM in response to upctry2
    Level 6 (10,606 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 8, 2015 11:41 AM in response to upctry2

    If the 10.6 disk you have is the one that came originally with the XServe then insert it into the optical drive, select it as the boot device and reboot from it. The process does not take too long (roughly 5 minutes) and should not cause any disruption but obviously warn everyone first about what you're proposing to do. Once booted from the disk choose English as the language and bypass the next one or two splash screens until you have access to the Utilities menu on the Menu bar at the top of the screen. Select the Reset Password utility, select the main boot drive and the administrator account should be the first one listed. Change the password to suit, apply the changes, quit the installer and when prompted re-select the main boot drive as the start-up disk.

     

    Eject the installer disk when done and test.

     

    If you've not already done so and depending on your need, it may be a good idea to reset root's password at the same time? Obviously make root's password different from the admin one. That way if the admin account's password goes south again you can reset it by simply logging in at the login window with root's name and password rather than rebooting and disrupting services from the disk.

     

    AFAIK there is no disk for Lion although you can create one from the downloaded installer package. If this is the way you want to go there are plenty of online resources outlining what you need to do to create a boot disk/USB memory stick for Lion. The process with Lion is much the same as above except there is no Reset Password utility in the Utilities menu on the menu bar. But there is Terminal and this what you select. When in terminal simply type in "resetpassword" (without the quotes) followed by a return and it will launch the Reset Password utility. From there it's the same process as in 10.6.

     

    More importantly having to reset the admin password's account regularly for reasons other than forgotting it can be due to deeper, underlying and potentially more serious issues? Alternatively it could be because you're using the wrong password with the wrong account? For example if this server is an Open Directory Master and you're trying to use the admin account to make changes to the LDAP node then it won't work. You must use the diradmin account instead. Or perhaps you mean this account's password rather than the admin one? If that's the case then resetting it using the method's above won't work well if at all and you're potentially looking at having to deal with something more serious?

     

    Hopefully that won't be case?

  • by upctry2,

    upctry2 upctry2 Sep 8, 2015 11:41 AM in response to Antonio Rocco
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 8, 2015 11:41 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

    Thank you this work for me.

    Martin