# Reset Root Password

## post by jeremy on Jan 7, 2021

[jeremy](https://deeptalk.lambda.ai/u/jeremy)

### 1. Create a bootable USB of Ubuntu(or any flavor of Linux)

We discuss creating a bootable USB [here](https://deeptalk.lambda.ai/t/create-usb-for-installing-ubuntu-18-04/482).

### 2. Boot into the live image

Power the machine on and press **Del** when you see the Asus logo.

Then press **F8** to open the boot menu. Select your USB drive.

From here, select _Try Ubuntu without Installing_.

### 3. Mount the root partition:

`lsblk`(list block) lists all of the disks/drives seen by your machine.

Open up a terminal and enter `lsblk` to see the existing partitions.

This is a snippet from `lsblk` on my machine:

```python-repl

...
vnme0n1    259:0    0 931.5G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0  512M  0 part
└─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0  931G  0 part
...
```

Given the size of `nvme0n1p2`, I know it’s my root partition.

I mount it to the `/mnt` directory with the following:

```bash

sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
```

4. Chroot(change root) into the directory.

In the terminal, run:

```bash

sudo chroot /mnt
```

### 5. Change your Password

Run `passwd` to change the root password.

Optionally run `passwd <your username>` to change the password for your user.

### 6. Syncing & Umounting the disk:

Finally, run:

```bash

exit
sudo umount /mnt
sudo sync
```

Remove the USB and reboot.