System configuration password

[Jeremy Kerr]

Hi Sean,

> What do you do if the System configuration password is unknown?

On OpenPOWER machines, the petitboot password is stored in a small area
of non-volatile memory; the underlying mechanism to clear/reset this
nvram storage is fairly platform-specific. Petitboot doesn't provide an
unauthenticated method of clearing this without the existing password,
as that would make the password somewhat useless.

Does the machine's management controller provide any method of doing a
factory reset? That will usually clear the nvram. Alternatively, some
systems will clear the NVRAM during a firmware (or "PNOR") update -
there may also be options to preserve or clear user settings during
that process.

This is all platform configuration though, and not defined by petitboot
- I'd suggest contacting IBM for support there.

Regards,


Jeremy