Root Password Recovery Solaris 11

1. Set the auto-boot options to false.

 ldm set-variable auto-boot\?=false Ldom-name

2. To check the disk resources attached to your ldm

 ldm list -o disk Ldom-name

3. Check for any existing services on Primary/IO Domain 

ldm list-services primary

4. You can use the existing one , if any or else create a new one.

ldm add-vds primary-cdrom primary

5. Add a vdsdev to the service created in step 4

ldm add-vdsdev options=ro  /tmp/sol-11_2-text-sparc.iso  cdrom01@primary-cdrom

where ro=read-only
/tmp/sol-11_2-text-sparc.iso = path of The Solaris 11 iso image

 6. Add a virtual disk to the vdsdev created in step 5

ldm add-vdisk cdrom cdrom01@primary-cdrom Ldom-name

7. From the primary domain break into the ldom whose password is to be recovered

telnet 0 500x (ldm port number)
Trying 0.0.0.0..
Connected to 0
Escape character is '^]'
telnet> send break
c)ontinue, s)ync, r)eset? Enter r
Resetting..
NOTICE: Entering OpenBoot
NOTICE: Fetching Guest MD from HV
NOTICE: Starting additional cpus
NOTICE: Initializing LDC services
NOTICE: Probing PCI devices
NOTICE: Finished PCI probing


OpenBoot x.xx.xxx, xxxxxxx GB memory available, Serial #xxxxxxxxx
Ethernet address xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Host ID: xxxxxxx
{0} ok

8. From the ok Prompt enter the following command
{0} ok devalias
cdrom   /virtual-devices@100/channel-devices@200/disk@

from the disks listed choose the one that you mapped in step 6.

9. From the listed devices choose the one you added in step 6
{0} ok boot cdrom
Select US-English
Again select English
Welcome to the Oracle Solaris installation menu
1 Install Oracle Solaris
2 Install Additional Drivers
3 Shell
4 Terminal types
5 Reboot

Please enter a number [1]: 3 To return to the main menu, exit the shell
root@solaris:/root
root@solaris:/root# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Available Capacity Mounted on
/devices/ramdisk-root:
248M 215M 33M 87%
/devices 0K 0K 0K 0% /devices
/dev 0K 0K 0K 0% /de
ctfs 0K 0K 0K 0% /system/contract
proc 0K 0K 0K 0% /proc
mnttab 0K 0K 0K 0% /etc/mnttab
swap 14G 2.6M 14G 1% /system/volatile
objfs 0K 0K 0K 0% /system/object
sharefs 0K 0K 0K 0% /etc/dfs/sharetab
/devices/virtual-devices@100/channel-devices@200/disk@4:a
731M 731M 0K 100% /.cdrom
/dev/lofi/1 1.9G 1.9G 0K 100% /usr
/dev/lofi/2 326M 326M 0K 100% /mnt/misc
/mnt/misc/opt 326M 326M 0K 100% /mnt/misc/opt
swap 14G 16K 14G 1% /root
swap 14G 64K 14G 1% /jack
swap 14G 0K 14G 0% /tmp

root@solaris:/root# zpool status
no pools available

10. Import the root pool
root@solaris:/root# zpool import -f rpool


11. Check for the boot environments available.
root@solaris:/root# beadm list

be_find_current_be: failed to find current BE name
BE Active Mountpoint Space Policy Created
-- ------ ---------- ----- ------ -------
solaris R - xxG static 2015-01-23 08:39

12. Mount the B.E
root@solaris:/root# beadm mount solaris /a
root@solaris:/root#
root@solaris:/root# TERM=vt100
root@solaris:/root# export TERM
root@solaris:/root# cd /a/etc
root@solaris:/root# vi shadow
<Carefully remove or change the  unknown password of root >

13.Update the boot archive
root@solaris:/root# bootadm update-archive -R /a

14. Unmount the B.E
beadm umount solaris

15.Reboot the system
root@solaris:/root# reboot