after update 11.3 to 11.4 root password changed

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Yes, I know, it was long overdue – but I just updated 11.3 to 11.4 using the live CD installer and now I cannot log in as root to configure the system. I’ve done my research and have tried many of the suggestions in this forum on how to reset it, but each time I am stopped by things such as the grub password, which also was changed.

I thought an update was supposed to retain all the basic configurations yet it appears that samba is not working and I can’t see the server on the network. At first glance, it appears the installer wiped out most of the base settings. So before I go postal on this thing, I decided to first ask for advice.

Thanks,

Geno

2

Just discovered that my user password has also changed. A short time after bootup, the user logon box appears and login is required. Since the NOS does not recognize my user password either, it leaves me with only a short period to access the system immediately after bootup.

Suggestions?

3

Those that the right version numbers?? current is 12.3 neither 11.3 or 11.4 are supported by a active repo any more so no bug fixes or new programs.

4

You didn’t update - you reinstalled; the CD Live versions cannot update.

As far as I can remember, at some point openSUSE changed from having a separate root password as the default to using the first user password as the root as the default. You may have got caught out by that.

I assume from the casualness of your comment about ‘update’ that you have a separate /home partition. So you should be able to reinstall 12.3 on the system but it will need a DVD as the Live versions no longer fit on a CD.

However, the desktop you were using with 11.3 is likely to be very different and you may not be able to carry over any of your settings (or you may get settings conflicts). So, you may find it easier to create a completely new user when you reinstall and then add the old user as your second user afterwards and copy over what you need to new user.

A bit longwinded but it will probably take less time than trying to sort out all the incompatibilities between desktops.

5

Definitely an update - 4-5 steps into it a radio button appeared asking if it was a new install or update. No question on which I selected. There are only two user accounts: root and mine, and I know that password as well – neither work.

I’m aware I’m way past the curve – I started back at 10.x and the updates have not been exactly bug free, so I have been hesitant to go through the revision process. But I initiated this one and I was planning on continuing to 12.1 after I smooth out any wrinkles – updates have to go sequentially or the mess gets even messier. I don’t want to install a fresh NOS because of all the work to reconfigure LAMP and a slew of other apps.

The 11.4 update was error-free and it boots up just fine. Any other thoughts?

6

Did you run a media test. I assume you have had the cd for a while they do go bad

7

Yes, and it came out clean. Also, the .iso image was downloaded and burned to DVD just recently.

8

New info: I went into rescue mode and discovered that /etc/shadow does not contain a hash for the root password – I wonder why the enter key (blank password) doesn’t authenticate. Further, /etc/group only contains the default groups. All of my user and group assignments are missing. So it appears now that the users, passwords, and groups did not come across in the update.

So what might have happened? Did I miss a required update prep procedure? I have found no references to this problem through Google. I can restore 11.3 from image to replay the update if anyone has the answer.

Less another solution, would someone create a sample user/password on their SUSE machine, cat /etc/shadow, and provide me with the password and hash? With that, I should be able to insert the hash and at least access my system. I realize this info may be improper to place on a public forum. Feel free to PM. I’ll provide my email and/or phone number. Thx.

9

That system is so old I don’t know if it can be done like that. I don’t remember seeing any reporsts of this problem in the past. Perhaps someone else may remember

Can you boot to rescue mode ie type a 1 at the grub prompt that should not require a pass word If I recall. Then use yast to set the passwords.

10

I upgraded a few systems from 11.3 to 11.4 back then when 11.4 came out.
But I never had a problem like this.

Can you boot to rescue mode ie type a 1 at the grub prompt that should not require a pass word If I recall. Then use yast to set the passwords.

No, this would still require the root password.
Type “init=/bin/sh” at the bootmenu, then no password is needed.

11

Hi geno,
I know that reconfiguring programs and settings after a fresh install can be a pain. However, I would still recommend a fresh install of 12.2 or 12.3. I have often installed from DVD because I was too far behind - just as you are now. Not just once, I had issues after first boot. Then, usually, going through the first software update sorted this out. But going through 11.4 AND 12.1 which are not supported anymore, you don’t have that option. You are stuck with the date of creation of your installation media.

You can do a fresh install and keep your home partion. Most user settings of programs are stored in your home directory.

The thing is, there is a number of serious changes. So john_hudson’s advice to install with a new user and copy over is a good idea, IMHO. You can spare the new user by renaming your home dirctory to something like /home/username_backup (as root) and then do the install and set up your standard user and copy over what you need. Then you won’t have issues with permissions due to different username / uid.

Whatever you have to reconfigure, you will only have to do it once. You will probably have to do it anyway. Try to save as many settings as possible in advance.
I, too, started at 10.0. Now I have one box each at 11.2, 11.3 and 11.4, my laptop on 12.2. Winter is near, I am looking forward to getting all in line. I know exactly what you mean.

kasi

12

OK, I have just seen that there are mirrors for discontinued versions:

openSUSE:Mirrors - openSUSE

But you will still have to set these up manually.

13

On 2013-10-06 00:56, kasi042 wrote:
>
> OK, I have just seen that there are mirrors for discontinued versions:
>
> ‘openSUSE:Mirrors - openSUSE’
> (http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Mirrors#EOL_mirrors)

Notice that 11.4 is still supported, so an upgrade from 11.3 to 11.4 is
valid - as long as you use evergreen.

openSUSE:Evergreen

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))

14

On 2013-10-05 18:46, geno11x11 wrote:
>
> New info: I went into rescue mode and discovered that /etc/shadow does
> not contain a hash for the root password – I wonder why the enter key
> (blank password) doesn’t authenticate. Further, /etc/group only contains
> the default groups. All of my user and group assignments are missing. So
> it appears now that the users, passwords, and groups did not come across
> in the update.

Strange.

I have never seen such a problem.

However, what you report is inconsistent. An upgrade can not be
performed with the CD version: only the DVD version supports it.

> So what might have happened? Did I miss a required update prep
> procedure? I have found no references to this problem through Google. I
> can restore 11.3 from image to replay the update if anyone has the
> answer.

You could, but you have to read this first and apply:

Offline upgrade
method

I have no experience with grub passwords. Maybe you should remove it
first, before attempting to upgrade again.

> Less another solution, would someone create a sample user/password on
> their SUSE machine, cat /etc/shadow, and provide me with the password
> and hash? With that, I should be able to insert the hash and at least

Nope. Procedures to reset any password exist, though. The opensuse.org
wiki has a page on it, IIRC.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))

15

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. Using Wolfi323’s suggestion, I booted into the system as root. The passwd command would not work but I was able access yast2 to change my user password and then paste its new hash to the root password in shadow. Holy moly, it worked!! …although a bunch of other functions, like startx, would not. But I spent the entire day working out the bugs and eventually got the GUI, network interface, samba, and a few others operational. So it now appears I am up and running with 11.4 – but it’ll take some time before I’m ready to tackle 12.1

This nightmare is the reason I put off previous upgrades. For me, it has never gone smoothly and so I dread the process.

However, I acknowledge the suggested wisdom of the fresh 12.3 install. But I recall it took a very long time to configure apache2, mysql, and php. I recognize that transferring the config files would probably ease the pain, but they are spread all over the drive and Apache2 uses includes for a slew of additional .conf files which takes considerable research time to determine the function of each. In my opinion it’s all a massive, multi-tentacled and hugely time consuming mess. Of course, if anybody has a map or flowchart of all of that I’m sure it would help tame the beast.

So for now, I have made a one-step advancement and I have noted a dramatic improvement in graphics quality and boot reliability (11.3 had a nasty habit of randomly hanging mid-boot) so I am very pleased with the outcome. Another day for the 12-series.

Best regards to everyone,

Geno

16

On 2013-10-08 04:16, geno11x11 wrote:

> So it now appears I am up and running with 11.4 – but
> it’ll take some time before I’m ready to tackle 12.1

No, you can not update to 12.1, it is EOL. You have to go to 12.2 or 12.3.

> This nightmare is the reason I put off the previous upgrades. for me, it
> has never gone smoothly and so I dread the process.

Have you read the documentation I suggested? I have been doing upgrades
for more than a decade without problems. You must be doing something wrong.

I suggest you wait about 4 months, then upgrade to 13.1 (perhaps in
steps), which is an LTS version, same as 11.4.

openSUSE versions are maintained for about 18 months (actually, two
releases). The Evergreen team does extended maintenance on some
versions, like 11.4 and 13.1. You have to read this and apply:

openSUSE:Evergreen

>
> However, I acknowledge the suggested wisdom of the fresh 12.3 install.
> But I recall, it took a very long time to configure apache2, mysql, and
> php. I recognize that transferring the config files would probably ease
> the pain, but they are spread all over the drive and Apache2 uses
> includes for a slew of additional .conf files which takes considerable
> research time to determine the function of each. In my opinion it’s all
> a massive, multi-tentacled and hugely time consuming mess. Of course, if
> anybody has a map or flowchart of all of that I’m sure it would help
> tame the beast.

Yes, that’s the reason for doing upgrades instead of fresh installs.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))

17

May I suggest adding a 20-30gig partition to act as a second root. With 2 root partitions you can install a new version in the currently unused one and test it prior to committing to a newer version. Also it is easy to copy needed configs over from the previous root partition. In addition the old version can be used as a rescue if something happens to your current. I think it is best to have separate users accounts so as not to mix GUI configs and cause problems at that level

As to conguration files in general, It is not uncommon to have the configuration file’s format and options change between versions of a program so old configs may only be good as a reference source to set up new configs. That will vary between programs and the span of versions skipped.

18

On 2013-10-08 21:56, gogalthorp wrote:
>
> May I suggest adding a 20-30gig partition to act as a second root. With
> 2 root partitions you can install a new version in the currently unused
> one and test it prior to committing to a newer version.

I agree.

Only that I use it to test the next version before committing an upgrade
of the main partition. It can also be used for comparison of the
upgraded system against a fresh one :slight_smile:

12 GB, without separate home, is more than enough for testing. Even 8.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))

19

Some really great suggestions! I really like the idea of a second root partition – not sure how grub will deal with two boot partitions, but I will look into that further. There is sufficient unpartitioned space available on sda.

I’m curious about robin_listas comment about 12.1. The .iso is available and I already have a DVD ready to go – What is the significance of EOL if the resources are available? …and yes, I read the offline upgrade document. I recall following a very similar document for an upgrade a few years back. I saw some good tips in there, but also some that appear to be beyond my knowledge and experience, so I’ll need to invest more time to familiarize myself in those weak areas. But “*the most annoying bugs” *document is a fantastic resource! I will definitely go through all of it in preparation for the next upgrade.

I’ve been enjoying the new features in 11.4 and the prospect of further joy is tugging at me. The idea of the second root and a clean install on a separate drive in preparation for the upgrade is intriguing. I’m convinced those two ideas alone would make life much more pleasant. When I can afford to down the system again for a few days I’ll start implementing your suggestions.

20

Ok you do need to know a bit about grub. by default the installer will change the MBR code and point to the new install. So if you wish to keep the old install as the controller you need to stop the installer from changing the MBR and have it put the grub code in the new root partition only and then in the old add the new install to the menu. That is easiest done from yast in the old install. Once you decide to move fully to the new install you can change the MBR froom yast in the new and then the new will be in charge of the boot

EOL basicly means that there are no new updates and in some cases finding the repos can be a challenge. Note there are 2 user supported projects that lengthen the life of selected versions. 11.4 and soon 13.1 are supported by evergreen (bugfixes only) and tumbleweed (attempt to keep on the cutting edge)

I liked 11.4 also and kept it until 12.3. I upgraded as I outlined above and and I have found 12.3 even better then 11.4. I still have 11.4 on the old partition and it will be replaced in the near future with 13.1 when it looks stable.