Re: Deleted root account in passwd

[Simon Kitching <simon@ecnetwork.co.nz>]

On Sun, 2004-08-15 at 06:14, Pete Clarke wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> <dumb mode>I managed to delete the root entry in /etc/passwd whilst playing 
> on a test box</dumb mode>
> Is there an easy way of re-inserting, or copying the backup passwd file I 
> have without physical access to the box?
> 
> I can ssh into it, but only as a regular user - obviously I can't su to root 
> as it doesn't exist anymore :-)

I presume it's still possible to boot into "single user mode" with a
broken /etc/passwd. Here are instructions I found by googling for "linux
boot single user mode":
  http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/
    custom-guide/s1-rescuemode-booting-single.html
It should then be possible to edit the /etc/passwd file.

Alternatively, boot using a rescue disk, mount the filesystem containing
the /etc/passwd file, then edit it to reinsert a root entry. I think the
Debian install CD will function as a "rescue disk" for this purpose. Or
Knoppix/Gnoppix/etc will do the job.

Regards,

Simon