ask | dr. root

First, don't panic...

What you need to do is to bring your machine to the 'OK' prompt. So press [Stop] and [A] on your keyboard -- if one is attached -- or send break from a terminal session (normally ~# )

Next, you need to use the Solaris Installation Media CD 1 (Solaris 9) or DVD (Solaris 10) and type:

# boot cdrom -s

Now mount the root parition of the disk onto the /mnt partition by typing:

# mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /mnt

(This assumes that /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 is the / partition of your server or desktop)

Remove the existing password from the shadow file by editing it in 'vi':

# vi /mnt/etc/shadow

In the example below, the root password in its encrypted format is $1$8Nr$rT.INHxDBW5gjGzi/.Simply delete it and save the file.

root:$1$8Nr$rT.INHxDBW5gjGzi/:1209:0:99999:7:-1:-1:107497043
bin:*:12188:0:99999:7:::
daemon:*:12188:0:99999:7:::
adm:*:12188:0:99999:7:::

The content of your shadow file should look like this when finished:

root::1209:0:99999:7:-1:-1:107497043
bin:*:12188:0:99999:7:::
daemon:*:12188:0:99999:7:::
adm:*:12188:0:99999:7:::

When you reboot your system, you will find that root has no password and you will be prompted for a password, so just press [enter] to continue.

Lastly, to change password from null to new password, simply type:

# passwd

Now enter the new password and you're done!