Step 1: Edit the Kernel Parameters
First, reboot the system. On the first entry of the grub menu, press 'e' on the keyboard to access the GRUB editor.
Once you have accessed the shell of the grub editor, scroll down until you get to the line that begins with 'linux'. Using your arrow forward key, navigate to the end of the line and add the following line to the directive.
rd.break enforcing=0
To gain access to emergency mode, press Ctrl + x.
Step 2: Reset the Root Password
To reset the root password, we need access to the /sysroot directory with read and write permissions. To do so, mount the /sysroot directory with read and write permissions.
# mount -o rw,remount /sysrootTake note of the space between the mount and -o, and between remount and /.
Next, change the directory environment to /sysroot.
# chroot /sysroot
To reset the root password, simply type the following command. You will be required to provide a new password and later on, reset it.
# passwd rootReset Root Password in Rocky Linux
Reset Root Password in Rocky Linux
Step 3: Set the SElinux Context
Next, set the appropriate SELinux context as indicated.
# touch /.autorelabelThe command creates a hidden file called .autorelabel in the root directory. During the reboot, SELinux detects this file and relabels all the files on the system with appropriate SELinux contexts. This process takes quite some time in systems with huge disk space.
Once you are done, exit the /sysroot environment.
$ exitThen run the exit command to leave the switch root session and reboot the system.
$ exitOnce the system has rebooted, you can log in and seamlessly switch to the root user.