CentOS Wireless Server

[Jawloms]

Hiya,

 

We have a managed wireless network. When our clients connect to our domain for the first time via a network cable they download something via group policy which means from then onwards they can connect to the wireless network. Their computer account is authenticated against AD. The wireless server is running CentOS. This is where it starts getting vague.....

 

I know where the wireless server is, but it has no keyboard/mouse/screen plugged in to it. I can VNC to is using it's IP address:5979. I can https to it. It's asking for a username and password and I have no idea what it is and no way of finding out either (long story).

 

Other than going back to the people who supplied the network originally and being charged for the work, is there a way I can get in to this box to manage it? Currently I don't need to as the system never seems to go wrong, but one day I will I'm sure!

 

Thank you for any help you can offer.

 

Stuart

[mister_z]

I don't know of any slick way. With RHEL, I have to boot off the install CD or DVD and at the boot prompt do

 

linux rescue

 

 

That will boot RedHat (commercial version of CentOS), and mount the existing file systems under /mnt/sysimage

 

That should allow you to change the root password

 

chroot /mnt/sysimage

passwd

 

If there's an easier way, maybe someone else knows of it. But that's all I can offer.

 

Good luck

[CyberNerd]

 

If there's an easier way, maybe someone else knows of it.

 

Good luck

 

Boot into single user mode and reset then password:

26.3.*Booting into Single-User Mode

[plexer]

Is it just a centos server or something like airwave? if you have no documentation then you're going to struggle I think.

 

Can you not just plug in a monitor and mouse temporarily so you have direct access to it?

 

Ben

[Jawloms]

Can you not just plug in a monitor and mouse temporarily so you have direct access to it?

 

Ben

 

Probably, but having no experience with these things I still wouldn't know what to do

 

I'll give the single user-mode a go. Thank you.

[plexer]

Ok well until you do understand it and what it does I wouldn't start messing with it as you may just break it.

 

Ben

[Jawloms]

That's along the lines I was thinking - "If it ain't broke" and all that. It'd be nice to know what to try if it does fail though.

 

Thanks everyone.

[sted]

might be worth imaging it before you start playing or even imaging it to a virtual machine you can break and affect nobody

[Jawloms]

Boot into single user mode and reset then password:

26.3.*Booting into Single-User Mode

 

I did that and can't quite believe it was that simple! Kind of defeats the point of having a password doesn't it? Thank you

 

I'm now able to log in to it, but am leaving everything well alone!

 

Thank you everyone. You can now close this call