Forgot OS password, how to proceed?

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Hi,
I was to the point when I was installing Pi-hole and install failed. I have not been able to get back into my Debian Install? It keeps asking for password? Is there anyway to start over? I do not think so if I cannot get into system ? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

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If you don't remember your password, you very likely have to start over from scratch (unless your specific OS would allow you to reset its password).

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If you can mount the root partition "/" contained on the disk on another similar Linux system, you can use below to set a new password:

$ man passwd
[..]
       -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
           Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the
           configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory. Only
           absolute paths are supported.

Eg if the root disk partition were mounted on /mnt (check with lsblk) and you want to set password for the root user:

sudo passwd -R /mnt root

This is not possible if the filesystem is encrypted!

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