Help: Recover Root User Password for Kali Linux (Virtualised VM)

[Wanesabates]

Hello everyone,

Need your help please if possible.

So,

Not fairly new to Linux but not a *Pro* either. I have been preparing to pass CySA+ and have been training on a locally run Kali Linux (Kali Linux 2019.3) virtual machine on VMware Workstation.

Now the stupid part is that I lost my root user password and I am having a nightmare trying to get access to it. I had it saved in a .txt file (not the best way to store it but it was a test vm) on the desktop and deleted it accidentally in a clutter-cleaning session .

I have tried various tutorials online including this reset tutorial and another tutorial that suggests going through Grub and doing some manual playing around with files which I am not comfortable with as I have some files I 100% need in the Kali VM. I once had the same issue with a hosting company and they did something along the lines of:

(Hey, we will mount up your file system or VM and change the password for you with X amount of downtime).
​

Obviously it was a VM and so is this Kali install I have, is there something like this that can be performed with the setup I've got? Or was this possible because it was hosted on a Hypervisor etc?

If there is no way around can I only recover the files like extracting the filesystem from the vm file if not is the Grub menu method safe please? Any horror stores and tips welcome. Thank you.

 

[KGIII]

Your second link is easy enough to follow and is non-destructive. Just follow it exactly. Kali is based on Debian, so I'm assuming it has a recovery mode.

 

[Wanesabates]

Hiya, thanks for the extra confidence , I will try this and update on the situation and how it goes, thank you.

 

[KGIII]

It should go well. Nothing is all that complicated with it.

I could have sworn there was also a live distro that had tools to reset passwords, among other things, but the name escapes me.

 

[f33dm3bits]

It should go well. Nothing is all that complicated with it.

I could have sworn there was also a live distro that had tools to reset passwords, among other things, but the name escapes me.

You can do so with Knoppix but you can probably do the same with any other distribution from the live environment by mounting root and then just chrooting into your system. You use these to reset Windows passwords and other tools.
UltimateBootCD
HirensBootCD

 

[KGIII]

Thanks! For some reason (probably the hour of the day and lack of coffee) I couldn't recall the name for a single one of those.

 

[Wanesabates]

You can do so with Knoppix but you can probably do the same with any other distribution from the live environment by mounting root and then just chrooting into your system. You also have these to reset Windows passwords and other tools.
UltimateBootCD
HirensBootCD

Hiya, this was it! that's what my hosting company had done ages ago to help me reset a forgotten root password that I had lost lol, they mounted up the file system and chrooted into it, Thanks for recommending Knoppix, I've never heard of it but it looks pretty interesting .

 

[Wanesabates]

Update: I did hold my breath while doing it and it worked, thank you everyone. Restored access finally!!