Resetting the root password

The panel can set a new strong password on the server's administrative account. The password is shown to you once, in the dialog, and cannot be retrieved later.

Where the control is

On the Options tab, the Reset password card describes itself as setting a new root or Administrator password, and notes that the server must be running. The button is Reset root password.

On a Linux server the account reset is root. On a Windows server it is Administrator, even though the button keeps the same label.

Before you reset

Check the server is running. The control expects a running server, and a reset attempted against a stopped one will not give you a usable password. See Power controls if you need to start it.

The dialog states the other precondition itself:

Make sure you have console / SSH access before resetting, because losing the password while disconnected will require a console reset.

In other words, have a second way in before you change the only credential you currently hold.

Resetting

1. Open the dialog

   Select Reset root password. The dialog is titled Reset root password? and names the server it will act on.

2. Confirm

   Select Reset password. There is no type-to-confirm step, so the reset starts on that single click. Cancel backs out.

3. Read the password immediately

   A panel headed New password (one-time view) appears with the result, above the caption "Save this somewhere safe. Once you close this dialog we can't show it again." Copy it into a password manager now, before you do anything else.

4. Close the dialog

   Select I've copied it. The password is gone from the panel at that point.

Reading what the dialog gives you

The one-time view shows one of two things, and they mean different things.

• A random string of characters. That is your new password. Save it, then test it by signing in.
• The literal text (sent to your email). No password came back to the panel, so there is nothing on screen for you to save. Do not close the dialog expecting to find it somewhere else. Take one of the recovery paths below.

Either way, confirm the result by signing in rather than by trusting the confirmation message. A successful reset is one you have logged in with.

If you end up without a working password

Set one from inside the server

If you can still reach a shell, through an SSH key, a session that is already open, or the console, set the password from there:

passwd root

On Windows, run this from an Administrator command prompt and enter the new password when prompted:

net user Administrator *

The console is the route the reset dialog itself points at, because it works without a password when the server is already signed in on that screen.

An SSH key is the reliable way to keep this option available. Keys are covered on SSH keys, and adding one to a running server takes a single line in authorized_keys.

Open a ticket

If you cannot reach a shell by any route, open a support ticket with the server's name and its IP address, for example 203.0.113.10, and say that you have no working credentials. See Opening a ticket.

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