How to Access System Administrator on Apple OS X

Steps

Using System Preferences

1. Go to the Apple menu in the upper right hand side of the screen and click "Log out username".
2. On the accounts presented in the menu select the admin account and enter the password.
   • If you keep on failing, it will ask for your master password that can be changed at the Security menu in system preferences.

Using Single-User Mode

1. Access Single-User mode.
   1. Shutdown your computer. (Turn it right off - do not restart.)
   2. Use your left hand to hold down the 'Apple' or 'Command' key on the keyboard (directly beside the space bar) and the letter 'S' . Hold both of these together and do not let go through the next step.
   3. Turn the computer on, ensuring that your are still holding the 'Command' and 'S' keys.
   4. Wait until you see a bunch of white writing scrolling by on a black screen. You can release the keys, and you are now in Single-User mode. The computer is ready to continue when you see localhost:/ root# or something similar as the very last line on the screen.
2. Check the drive for errors. Next we want to check the drive for errors (and fix them if there are any). We do this because of the power of Single-User Mode, we do not want to be making massive changes to the file-system if there are underlying issues which could be made worse. Right after the # on the last line of the screen type fsck -fy and press [Return] when the process is finished (approximately two to three minutes) you will see localhost:/ root# (henceforth referred to as the prompt) again.
3. Access the drive so that we can make changes. Before you can reset your password you need to mount the drive; this will allow you to make changes to files. At the prompt type mount -uw / and press [Return].
4. Reset the password.
   1. Type cd /Users [Return].
   2. Type ls [Return]. A list of all of the accounts on your computer will be listed along with 'Public'
   3. Type passwd [Return], replacing with the account you want to reset spelling it exactly as listed following the ls command.
   4. You will be prompted for a new password, start typing the new password when finished press [Return]. (The cursor will not move, however the password is typing). Confirm the password when prompted.
5. Restart the computer and try the new password. At the prompt type reboot [Return]. The computer will restart and you will now be able to use your new password.

Tips

• Breakdown of commands used in this document
  • fsck -fy
    • This command is a 'File System Consistency Check' and works very much the same way as Disk Utility's 'Repair Disk' function.
  • Mount -uw /
    • The mount command gives us access to the files on the system so we can make changes.
  • cd /Users
    • This command is the 'Change Directory' command and here we are changing directories to the 'Users' folder where all of the accounts are stored.
  • ls
    • This is the list command and shows us everything inside the folder.
  • passwd
    • This command tells the computer that we want to replace the password for the specified account.
  • reboot
    • This command restarts the computer.
• If for any reason you need to use the root user on your computer you can use these steps to activate the root account by simply using the username root when you get to the passwd command (ie. passwd root). When you restart the computer you will have an option on the login screen for 'Other' click it and type root as the username and whatever password you selected.

Warnings

• Single-User mode works entirely on text based input a simple misspelling or accidental key stroke in single-user mode can have serious consequences be sure to only follow well documented procedures while in single-user mode unless you know what you are doing.
• These instructions are provide to assist you if you have forgotten your password. They are not intended to assist you in carrying out any illegal acts and the author takes no responsibility for any thing you may do with these instructions.
• If you use these steps to access the root user be advised the root user has ultimate authority over the computer, you will not be asked to confirm if you want to delete or change something even if it is required for the computer to operate. It is NEVER advisable to use the root user as your primary login for this reason.

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