Re: Re: forgot root pass

David D. Smith wrote:

> "petewh@juno" == petewh@juno com <[email protected]> writes:
>
>  petewh@juno> Hey I forgot my root password (11 chars random numbers
>  petewh@juno> and letters) would it be a problem if I erased the
>  petewh@juno> password file (what is that file by the way?).  This is
>  petewh@juno> my personal desktop computer.  I did not write it down
>  petewh@juno> because for about a year I had had it memorized but it
>  petewh@juno> seems to have slipped my mind in the last month.
>
>Easiest recovery is to tell the kernel to use /bin/sh instead of
>/sbin/init to start the system. You get a nice root shell immediately
>after the kernel loads ..
>  
>

On an interesting note, you can create a  complete working distribution 
without nothing more than a kernel and a shell.  There are all types of 
shells you can choose from.  For instance, sash would be sufficient to 
create an emergency distribution.

It includes these commands:

-ar, -chattr, -chgrp, -chmod, -chown, -cmp, -cp,
-dd, -echo, -ed, -grep, -file, -find, -gunzip,
-gzip, -kill, -ln, -ls, -lsattr, -mkdir, -mknod,
-more, -mount, -mv, -printenv, -pwd, -rm, -rmdir,
-sum, -sync, -tar, -touch, -umount, -where

.. and sash is smaller than bash.

Jonathan

p.s.  Also, there are some who dream of nothing more than a kernel and 
emacs.  :)