Resetting the root password on a CentOS 9 VPS or dedicated server

Resetting the root password on a VPS

If the server is running, reboot it using the Send Ctrl+Alt+Del button in your control panel.

Reboot button in the control panel

After the BIOS screen, the GRUB bootloader menu will appear.

GRUB bootloader menu

Use the ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to navigate, select your boot entry, and press e to edit the boot parameters.

Find the line starting with linux ($root)/boot/...

Kernel boot line in the GRUB editor

The ro parameter mounts the filesystem read-only. To make your password change stick, replace ro with rw and append init=/sysroot/bin/sh:

Boot line after editing

Press Ctrl+X or F10 to boot into single-user mode.

Run the following commands to change the root password:

chroot /sysroot
passwd root
exit
reboot

Changing the root password in single-user mode

Resetting the root password on a dedicated server

On a dedicated server, you'll use IPMI to access the console remotely.

In the IPMI web interface, go to Remote Control → Console Redirection and click Launch Console.

Launching the console in the IPMI interface

You'll need Java Runtime Environment installed. The installer will download automatically when you click Launch Console.

Once the file downloads, run it, check the checkbox in the dialog that appears, and click Run.

Confirming the Java application launch

If Java's security system throws a warning, add the IPMI IP address (both http:// and https://) to your Java exception list. The Java documentation walks you through it.

Once you're in the console, reboot the server: Remote Control → Power Control → Reset server.

Rebooting the server via Power Control

After the reboot, the GRUB menu will appear. Press e to edit the boot entry.

GRUB bootloader menu on the dedicated server

Find the correct kernel line — the name depends on your system:

• linux — 64-bit IBM Power systems
• linux16 — x86-64 BIOS systems
• linuxefi — UEFI systems

Replace ro with rw and remove the nofb and quiet parameters:

Editing the kernel boot line

Then add rd.break enforcing=0 at the end of the line:

Adding rd.break to the boot line

Press Ctrl+X to boot into single-user mode.

Run the following commands:

chroot /sysroot
passwd root
touch /.autorelabel
exit
reboot

The touch /.autorelabel command triggers an SELinux relabeling on the next boot. Skipping it can result in being locked out of the system even after changing the password successfully.