How to reset admin password in VIP

Updated 5 months ago by Tim Chimes

Scope

VIP requires an administrative password for initial configuration, or if you need to make changes to the unit later (such as NIC settings, domain name, or SSL certificate). If you need to reset your password, here is a procedure to do so.


Resetting the password

We've tested this with Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 and 22.04. The ISO is about 3GB, so you’ll need a 4GB or larger USB flash drive.
  • Download and run Rufus Installer to make the bootable USB.

Rufus bootable usb  creator can be downloaded here:

https://rufus.ie/en/

On the above website, download either the main version “Rufus 3.21” or the portable version. (versions will change in the future)

To create the bootable drive with Rufus:

  1. Device should be the USB drive you are writing to
  2. Boot Selection is the ISO image of Ubuntu
  3. Leave the rest at defaults, and click on START on the bottom of the page

  • Once the bootable USB drive is created, turn off the VIP Server, and plug in the bootable USB drive.
  • You will need to enter the BIOS setup. Press the DEL key while the unit is booting up (this might be different depending on your server. The splash screen should tell you which button to press to get into Setup).
  • Once in the BIOS, navigate to Boot.
  • Change the UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode to "Dual".
  • Navigate to the Save/Exit tab. Save Changes and Reboot.
  • Press F11 while the unit boots up to enter the boot menu. Once in the boot menu, you should see something like this:

  • Select your USB device to boot from it.
It is important that you only boot from this drive. Do NOT install Ubuntu. If you do, you will need to send your VIP Server Appliance in for service.
In our example, the USB drive is called "General USB Flash Disk 1100", but yours might be called something different. The important note is that the USB device you want to boot from is NOT "ubuntu (P0: …)" or "debian (P0: …)" or "P0: 128GB SATA Flash"
  • While booting, you might see this screen. We used the first Boot option.

  • Once booted, open terminal and make the mount directory. To do this, enter the following at the prompt:

sudo mkdir /media/ubuntu

  • Then we mount the SSD to /media. To do this, enter the following command:

sudo mount /dev/dm-0 /media/ubuntu

  • Next, change the password for the admin account. Enter the following command:

sudo passwd --root /media/ubuntu admin

  • Power off your VIP Server appliance and remove the USB drive. Then boot your VIP Server appliance back up normally.
  • Once booted, you should now be able to log in with your new password.


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