Joomla - How to Reset Super Admin Password Filed under: Content Management Systems » Joomla (http://www.werockyourweb.com/content-management-systems/joomla),
available from: Joomla - How to Reset Super Admin Password (http://www.werockyourweb.com/joomla-how-reset-super-admin-password)
How to Reset Your Lost Joomla Password in 6 Easy StepsBefore we begin, you must have access to your database. If you don't, pass these instructions on to someone that does. It's also a good idea to backup your database before making changes, just in case something goes awry.
Finding the Password '"
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- Log in to your Joomla database (via phpMyAdmin for example)
- Click to edit the _users database (will be preceded by your account name, for example: example_users)
- Edit the entry for where usertype = "Super Administrator" (should be the first record)
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Resetting the Password In the password field you'll notice a string of characters. Joomla uses a one-way encoding method, which means you won't be able to retrieve your old password. However, you will be able to reset the password to a new one using mySQL's built in MD5 function: UPDATE example_users SET password=MD5('new password') WHERE usertype = "Super Administrator";
Voila - you just successfully reset your Joomla password :) Go to your joomla domain at example.com/administrator and try logging in with the new password. You should be logged in as Super Administrator.
Reset Using cPanel For those not familiar with mySQL, you should also be able to login with cPanel, click on the "SQL" tab, and enter the above query there.
Copying the Password from Another User An alternate method to reset your password, if you're not comfortable with SQL commands, is to simply copy and paste the password hash from another user (to which you know the password) over to your admin user. You'll then be able to login as the admin user using that password. If you don't have another user, you should be able to register as one, and then copy the password over.
Applying the Email From Another User Yet another alternate method to retrieving your lost Joomla admin password is to change your admin user's email address to one you are familiar with. Then use the lost password retrieval function (the "forgot password" link in the login section) to have your Joomla password emailed to you.
Troubleshooting Thanks to feedback from our web rockers we've been able to add various user based suggestions in addition to our own. Please use caution when trying these optional suggestions!
AlphaNumeric Only If for some reason the above method does not work try encoding a password that contains only alphanumeric (a-z, 0-9) characters. This method may not work if your password contains special characters (@!#$).
Joomla User Plugin Another possible reason that you're unable to login is that you may have inadvertently deleted the
Joomla User Plugin. You can remedy this by logging into you backend, and locating the
jos_plugins table in your database. Edit this entry and set the
published status of
user joomla to 1 (enabled). Once you've done this, try logging in again.
Temporarily Remove PHP Authentication This is another potential approach you can use to recover your Joomla admin password, but proceed with caution. Also note that this has only been tested in Joomla 1.5. Locate the file
plugins/authentication/joomla.php, and change the line
if ( $crypt == $testcrypt) {
to
if ( $crypt == $testcrypt || $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == "Your IP Address") {
Replace "Your IP Address" with your IP address (your IP address is: 96.47.225.66). Now anyone from your IP address (ie. your PC or local network) can login with any password. After logging in and changing your password, remember to restore the original code.
Can't Login and No Errors If you can't login and Joomla is not giving you any error messages, it could be that your
sessions directory doesn't have the correct permissions. They should be set to 755 (you can login via FTP, find your
sessions directory, and adjust the permissions (CHMOD)).
Invalid Session Error If you're getting an
invalid session error when you try and login, you probably need to clear your browser and or site
cache and cookies. Refer to our browser cache clearing instructions (http://www.werockyourweb.com/how-clear-cache-various-browsers-and-why) for details on clearing the cache your browser. For Joomla, you can clear the cache tables in your database (if you were able to login, you could browse to Tools > Clean Cache).
How to reset Joomla 1.5, 1.0 and earlier passwords In each of these examples you'll want to follow the above instructions, but then modify your SQL query to the following, which will reset your password to the one you specify.
UPDATE `jos_users` SET `password` = MD5( 'new password' ) WHERE `jos_users`.`username` = "admin";
If this doesn't work, try changing jos_users to mos_users.
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To find out more about either CMS, simply search (http://www.werockyourweb.com/search) We Rock Your Web for keywords "Drupal" or "Joomla" and you'll find articles that have been written by our web rockers.
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In the available Joomla videos, you can also learn about:
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- Joomla SEO
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As it's all video based, you simply sit back and watch it on your computer right away. You can also watch the construction of a sample Joomla site, built step by step from scratch. You can pause the video, and follow along step by step if you wish.