Summary: How to fix root entry of passwd file?

From: Ning Qian (qian@peduncle.ai.mit.edu)
Date: Wed Apr 13 1994 - 16:41:53 CDT


Hi,

I posted the following message a couple of days ago:

: I have a SPARC 10 that runs Solaris 2.3. Yesterday
: I was trying to change the root login shell to "tcsh" by
: modifying the passwd file but I had a typo in the pathname
: to tcsh. Now I can't log in as root anymore; the machine
: complains "No Shell" and then logs me out. I can log into
: the machine as a non-superuser but then I don't have the
: permission to change the passwd file. Is there a way to
: fix the problem without erasing the hard disk?

Many people responded and I would like to thank them all.
Here is how the problem was fixed based on the suggestions
of several people:

1. Boot from CD-ROM (type "boot cdrom" after doing an L1-a)
2. Once the OpenLook window manager is running, use the right mouse
   button to open a cmdtool window. The # prompt appeas in the
   window.
3. At the # prompt, type: fsck /dev/rdsk/c0t3d0s0 This sets the root
   partition of the hard disk to ok status.
4. Type: mount /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 /a This mounts the root partition of
   the hard disk under /a. Of course, you could mount it elsewhere.
5. vi /a/etc/passwd to fix the root entry!
6. Reboot the machine (type boot after doing another L1-a).

It might be simpler to boot to single user mode with the command
"boot cdrom -s" as suggested by several people but I didn't get
a chance to use it.

Ning



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