Forgot Password Server 2012

passwordwindows-server-2012

So I did something really stupid, forgot the admin password to my server running MS Server 2012. I so rarely shut down and have to log in because my server is running 24/7 that when I lost power and had to log back in, I couldn't remember my password. I'm trying to avoid having to reinstall the entire the OS because of a rookie mistake, mostly because of all the services running on this server. I've downloaded quite a few trial "recovery tools" but these seem to do everything except reset a password. If anyone could guarantee that a particular application works and is worth paying for, I'd be happy to pay for something to save myself the days and days of reinstalling and reconfiguring all the different services. So my question is, what is the path of least resistance to getting full access to my server again?

Best Answer

I regularly use Offline NT Password & Registry Editor:

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

However, I cannot vouch on whether it works well for Server 2012 or not. As usual, take precautions and perform a backup before attempting this.

Related Solutions

Ssh – How to automate SSH login with password

Don't use a password. Generate a passphrase-less SSH key and push it to your VM.

If you already have an SSH key, you can skip this step… Just hit Enter for the key and both passphrases:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa):
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

Copy your keys to the target server:

$ ssh-copy-id id@server
id@server's password:

Now try logging into the machine, with ssh 'id@server', and check-in:

.ssh/authorized_keys

Note: If you don't have .ssh dir and authorized_keys file, you need to create it first

to make sure we haven’t added extra keys that you weren’t expecting.

Finally, check to log in…

$ ssh id@server

id@server:~$

You may also want to look into using ssh-agent if you want to try keeping your keys protected with a passphrase.

Windows – Is the password compromised because I forgot to hit Enter after ssh username

In short: yes.

# ssh 192.168.1.1 -l "myuser mypassword"
^C
# egrep "mypassword" /var/log/auth.log
Oct 19 14:33:58 host sshd[19787]: Invalid user myuser mypassword from 192.168.111.78
Oct 19 14:33:58 host sshd[19787]: Failed none for invalid user myuser mypassword from 192.168.111.78 port 53030 ssh2

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ssh – How to automate SSH login with password

Windows – Is the password compromised because I forgot to hit Enter after ssh username

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