.. post:: 2019.09.11
   :tags: howto,scaleway,hosting,password
   :category: hosting
   :author: vladan
   :location: Belgrade

==========================================
Reset root password on a scaleway instance
==========================================

`These are the supported boot options
<https://github.com/scaleway/initrd/tree/master/Linux#boot-options>`_ on
Scaleway, managed through instance tags.

The serial console doesn't work with Firefox, but works fine with Chromium.

.. important::

    Use boot script for this, not local boot.

Navigate to Instances -> [Your Instance] -> Advanced Settings.

Make sure only ``INITRD_POST_SHELL=1`` is present in tags.

Reboot the instance. You'll get a shell with the rootfs volume of the VM you're
restoring the password mounted in ``/newroot``, e.g:

.. code-block:: bash

   chroot /newroot
   passwd root

Exit the chroot shell and the post initrd shell, the boot process will
continue, loading the updated rootfs.