Problems booting operating system and with root password

[Atom Powers]

On 5/26/06, Miguel <mmiranda at 123.com.sv> wrote:
> Atom Powers wrote:
>
> > On 5/26/06, Miguel <mmiranda at 123.com.sv> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi, i have a similar problem, i forgot my root password and the server
> >> its in a remote colocation site, is there a way to recover the encrypted
> >> password and crackit some way, i have my normal account (which is in
> >> wheel group), i even know that the root's pass begings with
> >> MAG_"something", but i really cant remember the complete root's pass,
> >> rebooting in single user mode is my best bet?
> >>
> >
> > If you are in wheel, then you should be able to "sudo su" to switch to
> > the root account and then "passwd root" to reset the password.
> >
> :-(
> No luck, this is the error
>
>  > sudo su
>
> We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
> Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:
>
>     #1) Respect the privacy of others.
>     #2) Think before you type.
>     #3) With great power comes great responsibility.
>
> Password:
> mmiranda is not in the sudoers file.  This incident will be reported.
>  > sudo su
> mmiranda is not in the sudoers file.  This incident will be reported.
>  > passwd root
> passwd: permission denied
>  >
>
> I entered my account's password...
>
> Anything more?
>

Yes. Check your man pages; the format of the sudoers file is very specific.
Usually you can get away with a line like this:
--
%wheel	ALL=(ALL)	ALL
--


-- 
--
Perfection is just a word I use occasionally with mustard.
--Atom Powers--