Lost the Root Password on Linux 5.5

Insert the Linux disk in the cd drive and reboot the system

When you come to the boot prompt chose F5 rescue

Type linux rescue at the prompt

This will mount the system and bring you to a prompt

type: chroot /mnt/sysimage to change to root

follow the steps below: type passwd or edit the /etc/shadow file as below. There is not a "/" in the shadow file, when you edit.

http://aplawrence.com/Linux/lostlinuxpassword.html

If you can do this, just type "passwd" once you are in and reset it to whatever you like. Or just edit /etc/shadow to remove the password field: move to just beyond the first ":" and remove everything up to the next ":". With vi, that would be "/:" to move to the first ":", space bar once, then "d/:" and ENTER. You'll get a warning about changing a read-only file; that's normal. Before you do this, /etc/shadow might look like:

root:$1$8NFmV6tr$rT.INHxDBWn1VvU5gjGzi/:12209:0:99999:7:-1:-1:1074970543  
bin:*:12187:0:99999:7:::  
daemon:*:12187:0:99999:7:::  
adm:*:12187:0:99999:7:::     

and after, the first few lines should be:

root::12209:0:99999:7:-1:-1:1074970543  
bin:*:12187:0:99999:7:::  
daemon:*:12187:0:99999:7:::  
adm:*:12187:0:99999:7:::