The ability to run Linux natively in Windows 10 is provided by the WSL feature. WSL stands for Windows Subsystem for Linux, which initially, was limited to Ubuntu only. Modern versions of WSL allow installing and running multiple Linux distros from Microsoft Store.
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The same is valid with passwords. Unfortunately, we forget a lot about passwords, so there are countless password managers to help us manage our passwords.
Forgetting your Ubuntu desktop or server password may prevent you from logging on physically or remotely. Some tools may be able to help you recover the password. However, the method below is the quickest and easiest way.
When you’re ready, please continue below.
If your timing is wrong and you miss the boot menu, you’ll have to restart the machine and try again until you see the screenshot below.
On the menu, select *Advanced options for Ubuntu.
Next, select *Ubuntu, with Linux.x.x-generic (recovery mode). Select the recovery mode for the same Grub version as the default. They both should have the same version number.
Next, use the scroll key, scroll down on the list, select as shown on the screen below, and press Enter.
Next, run the commands below to mount the shell with read/write permissions.
mount -rw -o remount /
When you run the above commands, you’ll be prompted to create and confirm a password for the account name you mentioned. Create it, and you’re done.
Next, type reboot to restart the desktop or server and begin using the new password you just created.
This post showed you how to reset forgotten passwords on Ubuntu Linux. Please use the comment form below if you find any errors above or have something to add.
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a tool that lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment, including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications, directly in Windows without setting up a virtual machine or dual-boot.
You can run full Linux operating systems inside Windows efficiently. We have written many tutorials on installing different Linux distributions on Windows WSL.
This account will be added to the sudoers file, which gives the account sudo permission. However, this is not the root.
I don’t think you should log in as root on a Linux machine. But there might be some cases where you’ll need to log in as root to perform critical tasks.
The tutorial should come in handy when you log on as root.
Log on as root
Use the steps below to start the Ubuntu WSL app and log in as root instead.
Then open the Windows command prompt by clicking the start button and find Command Prompt or search for it, as shown in the image below.
After running the command above for the respective Ubuntu version, start up the Ubuntu WSL app, and this time the root account should be logged in.
You can see that the root account is logged in.
Now do what you intend to do with the root account. When you’re done, exit.
Replace richard with your account.
There you go.
That should do it!
This post showed you how to log on as root when using Ubuntu on WSL. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report.
Forgot the root password after you’ve installed Ubuntu or Kali Linux subsystem on Windows 10? How can I reset it? Since the Fall Creators Update, you can run different Linux distribution directly on Windows 10 using a feature called “Windows Subsystem for Linux”. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to reset lost root password for any Linux subsystem in Windows 10.
How to Reset Lost Root Password in Windows Subsystem for Linux
