Resetting Passwords on Smoothwall Filter and Firewall

The instructions in this article should only be completed if told to do so by Smoothwall Support.

 

Resetting the Web Interface Administrator Password

To change the admin password, you will need to log on to the Smoothwall as the root superuser in an SSH session: 

  1. Connect to your Smoothwall via a console using the SSH protocol on port 222 (typically, via an application such as Putty or terminal).
  2. Log in as the root user.
  3. From the command line, type setup and press enter.
  4. Using the keyboard arrow keys, select and press enter on Change admin password.
  5. Enter the new credentials and select OK.

Note: Although there is an option in the setup menu to change this root password, you cannot access the setup menu without the root password

Changing the Root Password

If you know the root password, and want to change it, follow the steps above and select Change root password in the setup utility.

Resetting Root Password on a Smoothwall Appliance

If the original root password cannot be found, you will have to create a new one. To do this, the Smoothwall will need to be rebooted into single user mode as the root password cannot be set in the user interface.

  1. Ensure you have a keyboard and monitor (or console cable session) connected to the Smoothwall.
  2. Reboot the box and hold (or continuously tap) the shift key until the GRUB boot loader appears. Note that if you are using your own hardware, it may be the DEL key to enter the GRUB menu or if you are using a serial console cable you may have to hold the escape key.
  3. You will see 2 options:
    • Smoothwall GNU/Linux
    • Advanced options for Smoothwall GNU/linux
  4. Highlight Smoothwall GNU/Linux and press e to edit.
    You will be taken to an output box with setparams 'Smoothwall GNU/Linux'.
  5. Look for the line containing the UUID. It will look something like this:
  6. Use the arrow keys to navigate between ro and rootflags after the UUID and type the word single to look like the screenshot below:
  7. Press CTRL-X or F10 to continue booting.
  8. The box will appear to boot as normal, but when the boot is completed, instead of seeing "Login:" you will see: "root@smoothwall /]# "
  9. Type setup and press enter. This will take you into the setup menu where you can reset the root password by using the change root password option.
  10. When you have reset the root password, reboot the box using the following command:
    shutdown -r now
    This issues a shutdown and reboot command with the time parameter set as immediate. Please then test the root password.