Reset pfSense web interface password through main console

Multi tool use
I'm (temporarily) in charge of a network where pfSense 2.0.1 is basically running the whole routing operation. Unfortunately, the network manager before me did not bother to write down what the username and password is to log into the web interface (it does appear to have been changed from the default). I do have full access to the main pfSense console, but as you can see in this photograph, my sorry attempts at getting some sort of admin menu failed miserably.
Is there a way I can reset the web interface username and password through the console? I tried searching for this a bit online, but anything I found about some sort of password reset seems to imply I do it from the web interface, which is where the problem lies in the first place! :)
Would appreciate any help in this matter! I do have a good bit of *Unix console experience, so I can make my way around a command line!
networking pfsense
add a comment |
I'm (temporarily) in charge of a network where pfSense 2.0.1 is basically running the whole routing operation. Unfortunately, the network manager before me did not bother to write down what the username and password is to log into the web interface (it does appear to have been changed from the default). I do have full access to the main pfSense console, but as you can see in this photograph, my sorry attempts at getting some sort of admin menu failed miserably.
Is there a way I can reset the web interface username and password through the console? I tried searching for this a bit online, but anything I found about some sort of password reset seems to imply I do it from the web interface, which is where the problem lies in the first place! :)
Would appreciate any help in this matter! I do have a good bit of *Unix console experience, so I can make my way around a command line!
networking pfsense
add a comment |
I'm (temporarily) in charge of a network where pfSense 2.0.1 is basically running the whole routing operation. Unfortunately, the network manager before me did not bother to write down what the username and password is to log into the web interface (it does appear to have been changed from the default). I do have full access to the main pfSense console, but as you can see in this photograph, my sorry attempts at getting some sort of admin menu failed miserably.
Is there a way I can reset the web interface username and password through the console? I tried searching for this a bit online, but anything I found about some sort of password reset seems to imply I do it from the web interface, which is where the problem lies in the first place! :)
Would appreciate any help in this matter! I do have a good bit of *Unix console experience, so I can make my way around a command line!
networking pfsense
I'm (temporarily) in charge of a network where pfSense 2.0.1 is basically running the whole routing operation. Unfortunately, the network manager before me did not bother to write down what the username and password is to log into the web interface (it does appear to have been changed from the default). I do have full access to the main pfSense console, but as you can see in this photograph, my sorry attempts at getting some sort of admin menu failed miserably.
Is there a way I can reset the web interface username and password through the console? I tried searching for this a bit online, but anything I found about some sort of password reset seems to imply I do it from the web interface, which is where the problem lies in the first place! :)
Would appreciate any help in this matter! I do have a good bit of *Unix console experience, so I can make my way around a command line!
networking pfsense
networking pfsense
asked Jul 29 '13 at 3:18
DevinDevin
182119
182119
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2 Answers
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(This is pretty much copy paste from http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!)
- Reboot the pfSense box
- Choose option 4 (Single User Mode) from the loader menu (The one with
the ASCII pfSense logo) - Press enter when prompted to start /bin/sh
Remount the drive as rewritable:
/sbin/mount -o rw /
Run the built-in password reset command:
/etc/rc.initial.password
Follow the prompts to reset the password
Also, this is pretty much the same for most if not all linux boxes, expect you just use passwd and most likely don't need to remount the drive. When in single user mode you are dropped into root by default which can reset any users password. It's VERY nice.
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
add a comment |
If you have console access:
- Click the option for shell command
- run
pfctl -d
to disable firewall - run
/etc/rc.initial.password
to reset to the default password - Now you can login with
admin
/pfsense
and change the password - Finally, run
pfctl -e
to enable the firewall again.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
(This is pretty much copy paste from http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!)
- Reboot the pfSense box
- Choose option 4 (Single User Mode) from the loader menu (The one with
the ASCII pfSense logo) - Press enter when prompted to start /bin/sh
Remount the drive as rewritable:
/sbin/mount -o rw /
Run the built-in password reset command:
/etc/rc.initial.password
Follow the prompts to reset the password
Also, this is pretty much the same for most if not all linux boxes, expect you just use passwd and most likely don't need to remount the drive. When in single user mode you are dropped into root by default which can reset any users password. It's VERY nice.
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
add a comment |
(This is pretty much copy paste from http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!)
- Reboot the pfSense box
- Choose option 4 (Single User Mode) from the loader menu (The one with
the ASCII pfSense logo) - Press enter when prompted to start /bin/sh
Remount the drive as rewritable:
/sbin/mount -o rw /
Run the built-in password reset command:
/etc/rc.initial.password
Follow the prompts to reset the password
Also, this is pretty much the same for most if not all linux boxes, expect you just use passwd and most likely don't need to remount the drive. When in single user mode you are dropped into root by default which can reset any users password. It's VERY nice.
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
add a comment |
(This is pretty much copy paste from http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!)
- Reboot the pfSense box
- Choose option 4 (Single User Mode) from the loader menu (The one with
the ASCII pfSense logo) - Press enter when prompted to start /bin/sh
Remount the drive as rewritable:
/sbin/mount -o rw /
Run the built-in password reset command:
/etc/rc.initial.password
Follow the prompts to reset the password
Also, this is pretty much the same for most if not all linux boxes, expect you just use passwd and most likely don't need to remount the drive. When in single user mode you are dropped into root by default which can reset any users password. It's VERY nice.
(This is pretty much copy paste from http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/I_locked_myself_out_of_the_WebGUI,_help!)
- Reboot the pfSense box
- Choose option 4 (Single User Mode) from the loader menu (The one with
the ASCII pfSense logo) - Press enter when prompted to start /bin/sh
Remount the drive as rewritable:
/sbin/mount -o rw /
Run the built-in password reset command:
/etc/rc.initial.password
Follow the prompts to reset the password
Also, this is pretty much the same for most if not all linux boxes, expect you just use passwd and most likely don't need to remount the drive. When in single user mode you are dropped into root by default which can reset any users password. It's VERY nice.
answered Jul 29 '13 at 5:00
Austin HarshAustin Harsh
1112
1112
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
add a comment |
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
Thanks, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to that link before. I was also able to follow the first step on that page to reset mine, but the single user mode would work great too!
– Devin
Jul 30 '13 at 13:52
add a comment |
If you have console access:
- Click the option for shell command
- run
pfctl -d
to disable firewall - run
/etc/rc.initial.password
to reset to the default password - Now you can login with
admin
/pfsense
and change the password - Finally, run
pfctl -e
to enable the firewall again.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
add a comment |
If you have console access:
- Click the option for shell command
- run
pfctl -d
to disable firewall - run
/etc/rc.initial.password
to reset to the default password - Now you can login with
admin
/pfsense
and change the password - Finally, run
pfctl -e
to enable the firewall again.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
add a comment |
If you have console access:
- Click the option for shell command
- run
pfctl -d
to disable firewall - run
/etc/rc.initial.password
to reset to the default password - Now you can login with
admin
/pfsense
and change the password - Finally, run
pfctl -e
to enable the firewall again.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
If you have console access:
- Click the option for shell command
- run
pfctl -d
to disable firewall - run
/etc/rc.initial.password
to reset to the default password - Now you can login with
admin
/pfsense
and change the password - Finally, run
pfctl -e
to enable the firewall again.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited Jan 8 at 17:30


HackSlash
1,9321620
1,9321620
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered Jan 8 at 16:36
Somewhat Useful PersonSomewhat Useful Person
111
111
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Somewhat Useful Person is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
add a comment |
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
Thanks, this looks like a good answer! I added some mark up to your answer. There are some handy buttons at the top of the editor that can make your post more readable. I like to use the code markup to isolate commands from the rest of the text and separate steps with either bullets or numbers.
– HackSlash
Jan 8 at 17:26
add a comment |
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