Password reset for ~1998 AIX on RS/6000?

[Pete Lancashire]

I like the idea of creating an image before something could screwup what is
on the disk.

dd is your friend

-pete

On Feb 1, 2018 7:28 PM, "Tapley, Mark via cctech" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
wrote:

> On Feb 1, 2018, at 2:32 PM, ethan at 757.org wrote:
>
> >>      Is there a standard procedure for recovering lost passwords for
> these systems, or for resetting passwords? I do have physical access to the
> machine; it’s possible I can find an AIX install disk but it’s *highly*
> desirable to preserve the contents of the existing hard drive.
> >
> > Image the hard drive off to a raw file using a linux host with a SCSI
> HBA?
> >
> > Once that is done, it might be possible to run a hex editor against the
> hard drive (one that doesn't copy the contents into RAM) and then search
> for the password file. From there you can copy the des hash and use rainbow
> tables / wordfiles to crack it or replace it with a known DES hash?
> >
> > This is how I used to reset my root password on my Lucent Audix UNIX
> host.
> >
> > YMMV, others might have more insight.
>
> Update, I did locate a CD saying “AIX V4.2.1 for 5765-C34” and this URL:
>
> http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1000366
>
> which may be what I need. I’ll try this ASAP, hopefully tomorrow, and
> report what happens.
>
> Thanks, and any more ideas welcome!
>