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Unable To Successfully Change Root Password

Background:

Am running RHEL 6.5

[root@nvger1 ~]# uname -a

Linux nvger1.xxx.com 2.6.32-431.20.3.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Jun 6 18:30:54 EDT 2014 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[root@nvger1 ~]#

The host is an NIS client operating within an HPUX NIS environment.

What the problem is:

As user root, I am unable to successfully change the root password. Here is what happens whenever I attempt to do so:

[root@nvger1 ~]# passwd

Changing password for user root.

New password:

Retype new password:

passwd: Authentication token manipulation error

[root@nvger1 ~]#

I also created a test user account that is local to the host and is not

an NIS user account. I was also unsuccessful in trying to change the test user's password.

Please note that SELinux is disabled. Also, the root file system is mounted R/W

The /var/log/secure entry shows this:

Sep 4 11:26:12 nvger1 passwd: gkr-pam: couldn't update the 'login' keyring password: no old password was entered

Any ideas on what is preventing me from changing the root password and how this can be fixed? Thanks in advance.

Best Regards,

Rob S.

Comments

  • Have you tried with changing password using single-user mode?
  • I fixed the problem by running 'pwconv'; running this command created the /etc/shadow
    file which, apparently, was missing. Bottom line is that creating the /etc/shadow
    file allowed me to successfully run the 'passwd' command to change the root
    password.

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