Resetting root user password

Step 1) Establish a console access to Solaris server

Step 2) Restart the server

Step 3) Press #. ( hash followed by dot) immediately when you see the lines like below

Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
OpenBoot 4.29.1, 8064 MB memory available, Serial #85350590.
Ethernet address 0:21:28:16:58:be, Host ID: 851658be

Step 4) Check the Prompt is showing like below
->

Step 5) Create ALOM user for switch over control to ALOM prompt, enter

-> create /SP/users/admin role=Administrator cli_mode=alom
Creating user...
Enter new password: ***********
Enter new password again: ***********

CAUTION : If you forget ALOM password then there is no option to reset in future .
The only way is replacing the hardware.

Step 6) To set mode to ALOM, enter
-> set /SP/users/admin cli_mode=alom
Set 'cli_mode' to 'alom'

Step 7) Switch over the control from ILOM to ALOM prompt, enter
-> exit

Step 8) Enter username and password to login ALOM prompt,

SUNSP0021281658C7 login: admin
Password:
Note : username is admin and password is which created in step 5.

Step 9) Check the prompt like below after login,
sc>

Step 10) Enter the command 'break', take the system control to ok prompt
sc> break
Are you sure you want to send a break to the system [y/n]? y
sc>

Step 11) To enter console, enter
sc> console

Step 12) Press enter to proceed if you see the message like below
Enter #. to return to ALOM.

Step 13) Choose the option 'r' to restart the server,

c)ontinue, s)ync, r)eset? r

Note : If you are not seeing message like above or "ok" prompt then restart the server
and follow Step 3,9,10,11 and check it takes you to "ok" prompt.

Step 14) After rebooting the control comes to ok prompt,
{0} ok

Step 15) Place the Soalris 10 OS DVD into DVD drive

Step 16) To boot from DVD, enter
{0} ok boot cdrom -s

Step 17) To mount the disk and set editor after booting, enter
# mount /dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0 /a
# TERM=sun
# export TERM

Step 18) To edit password file and remove the root password, enter
# vi /a/etc/shadow

Now remove the root password(alphanumeric chars) present in the
second Colum of the first line
Example :
root:pmjsjtjF22sYg:14750:7:56:14:::

Use left,right,up and down arrows to move around.

Step 19) To save the file and exit, enter
:wq!

Step 20) To unmount the disk, enter
# umount /a

Step 21) Switch to ok prompt, enter
# init 0

Step 22) To boot single user mode, enter
{0} ok boot -s

Step 23) Press enter if you see the message like below
Root password for system maintenance (control-d to bypass):

Step 24) To set new password for root, enter the following this will prompt you for the new password
# passwd root

Step 25) To reboot the machine, enter
# reboot

Step 26) After rebooting check Solaris server is accessible via SSH.
If everything looks good then follow the steps to
change prompt from ALOM to ILOM.

Step 27) Restart the server from console, enter
# init 6

Step 28) Press #. ( hash followed by dot) immediately when you see the lines like below
Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
OpenBoot 4.29.1, 8064 MB memory available, Serial #85350590.
Ethernet address 0:21:28:16:58:be, Host ID: 851658be

Step 29) To set console to ILOM, enter
sc> userclimode admin default

Step 30) To exit ILOM, enter
sc> logout
SUNSP0021281658C7 login: admin
Password:
Note : Password is which you created on step 5.

Step 31) To boot from console, enter
-> start /SP/console
Are you sure you want to start /SP/console (y/n)? y

Press enter key once

Step 32) To complete the process reboot the LCA hardware, enter
# init 6

This completes the process of resetting password for root user.

Ref : http://blogs.sun.com/merwick/entry/switching_between_alom_and_ilom

Ref : http://www.big-up.org/menu/wiki/doku.php/command/solaris_quick_faq