Encrypted Home… Forgotten password, but I have the Passphrase

Question

I have forgotten the password to log in to Ubuntu (15.10). My home folder is encrypted. I do have the passphrase. How should I change the user password? There are some procedures here but they do not mention if there is any difference if your home directory is encrypted. How to proceed?

Answer 1

You can try the following:

1. boot the pc with a live-cd or live-usb

2. mount the filesystem you lost the password from and chroot into it. from a terminal:

   cd /media
   mkdir tmp  
   sudo mount /dev/sda1 /media/tmp
   sudo chroot /media/tmp /bin/bash
   

   /dev/sda1 is an example. change it to where your file system is if necessary.

3. now reset the password from the user you lost the password from

   sudo passwd username
   

4. unmount

   sudo umount /media/tmp
   

Hope this helps.