Andrew, You are probably correct. I didn't think about encryption. I'm going to give the system rescue cd another shot.
Scott Huey On 11/3/07, Andrew Sackville-West <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 08:47:27PM -0700, Redefined Horizons wrote: > > I've run into a problem after I performed the following: > > > > [1] Changed the password for my root user with the usermod command. > > [2] Changed the password of a non-root user with the usermod command. > > according to man usermod, the --password command expects an encrypted > password. did you supply encrypted passwords? > > > [3] Added a new user with a password using the useradd command. > > > > After making these changes I could no longer log in as the root user > > or the non-root user for whom I changed the password. I also could not > > log in as the new user. I tried this with both old and new passwords. > > (All user names were recognized, but Debian is telling me the > > passwords are incorrect.) > > > > I booted with the System Rescue CD and followed the advice at this link: > > > > http://www.debianadmin.com/forgot-root-password-or-reset-root-password-in-debian.html > > > > When I edited the etc/shadow file I found the passwords for the root > > user, non-root user, and new user to be exactly as I had set them with > > the usermod and useradd commands. The passwords are the same ones that > > failed. I reset them using nano and System Rescue CD. > > did you reset them or delete them? I think you need to delete them > (remove the characters between the first and second colon) because > they get stored in an encrypted method. You'd have to know what wacky > string to type so that the encrypted output matches whatever plain > text is in there... > > I think go back in through system rescue cd, delete the passwords, log > in with blank passwords and then change them using passwd. > > > > After a reboot the original passwords, the new passwords, and the > > passwords reset using the System Rescue CD all failed. > > > > Note: I had one existing non-root user whose password I did not > > modify. I can still log into my system using this user. I am know > > backing up that users data in case I have to reinstall. > > > > Does anyone have any idea what is going on? I'm really wishing that I > > wouldn't have reset that root password now. It's the last time I'll > > ever do that. > > well, better to learn to do it properly than not do it at all... > > A > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQFHLUj2aIeIEqwil4YRAgPDAJ4n7fX37GdhTSGt1oKK0oRmRtizcQCfTRpM > rTGswZDKPf875B6tI6kFDiw= > =zIjG > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
