sudo: /etc/sudoers is mode 0640, should be 0440

Lost Password

Here is how you can use the Live CD to change the administrative password on your machine if you have lost/forgot the current password. Please note that you can usually boot into RecoveryMode and run the passwd command directly.

1. Boot the Ubuntu Live CD.

2. Press Ctrl-Alt-F1

3. sudo mount /dev/hda1 /mnt

4. Depending on your machine it could also be sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt. If you created a custom partition layout when installing Ubuntu you have to find your root partition using the fdisk utility. See the section Finding your root partition.

5. sudo chroot /mnt

You can now use the passwd command to reset a password.

Note: In the mount command, /dev/hda1 will need to be replaced with the partition where the root of the file system resides.