---
title: "Enable recovery mode on a node"
description: "Boot a Linux node from a rescue disk to reach it and reset a lost root password."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "node"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/node/how-to/enable-recovery-mode/"
topic: ["protect"]
---

# Enable recovery mode on a node

Recovery mode boots a Linux node from a small rescue disk instead of its own, so you can reach
its files without starting its normal system. Use it to:

- Reset a lost or forgotten root password.
- Free up space on a disk so full that SSH stopped responding. See [Troubleshooting node
  performance and resources](/myaccount/node/troubleshooting/performance-and-resources/) for
  the disk-space steps once you are in.
- Undo a firewall or network change that has cut off your only way in.
- Fix anything else stopping the node from starting on its own.

Recovery mode is for Linux nodes. Windows nodes, [FortiGate or spot nodes](/myaccount/node/faq/#what-are-spot-nodes-and-fortigate-firewall-nodes), and nodes on the
[older Xen hypervisor](/myaccount/node/faq/#what-is-a-node-on-the-older-xen-hypervisor) do not offer it. You need the node **Powered off** first.

If the node runs Windows, use the in-portal password change instead of recovery mode: see
[Change a node's password](/myaccount/node/how-to/change-the-node-password/).

## Turn on recovery mode

1. Power the node off, if it is not already: open **Actions** and click **Power Off**. The node
   stops running; recovery mode needs it off before it can attach the rescue disk.
2. Open **Actions**, then **Security**, and click **Enable Recovery Mode**, then confirm in the
   dialog that opens. Turning it on attaches a small rescue disk matched to the node's OS and
   region.
3. Open **Actions** and click **Start** to boot the node again. The node boots from the rescue
   disk, and its status still reads as normal rather than showing recovery mode.

From there, open **Access Console** to reach the rescue environment. Access Console is the
in-browser view of a node's screen, like VNC, used when SSH or RDP will not connect. It is disabled
for the few
seconds recovery mode is still starting up, so if an action asks you to retry in a few seconds,
wait a moment and try again. If recovery mode itself is still shown as in progress after a few
minutes, contact support rather than continuing to retry.

The rescue environment can show its own boot menu before it drops you at a command line. If it
does, pick the rescue or repair option, not a fresh installation: starting an install from there
would wipe the node the same way reinstalling it does.

Once it is on, the same menu entry reads **Disable Recovery Mode**; that is how you can tell
recovery mode is on.

## Reset a lost root password

Inside the rescue console, you can mount the node's own disk without needing its password to
reach it. On startup, the rescue environment asks how to mount it. Choose option 1, the
default mount: it puts the node's disk at **/mnt/sysroot**, where the next steps expect it.

1. Change into the node's disk, so every later command runs against it instead of the rescue
   disk you booted from:

   ```bash frame="none"
   chroot /mnt/sysroot
   ```

   This runs the next steps as the node's root user. Check that the prompt shows `root@`. If it
   does not, become root first:

   ```bash frame="none"
   sudo -i
   ```

   Then check the prompt again before you continue.

2. Set the new password:

   ```bash frame="none"
   passwd
   ```

Exit the chroot once the password is set.

## Turn recovery mode off

When you are ready to boot the node normally again, power it off, then open **Actions**, then
**Security**, and click **Disable Recovery Mode**: this detaches the rescue disk. Open
**Actions** and click **Start** to boot from the node's own disk again, with the new password.

When the node reads **Running**, connect as usual and sign in with the password you set;
see [Connect to a Linux node](/myaccount/node/how-to/connect-to-a-linux-node/). If recovery mode
will not turn on or off, see
[Troubleshooting node security and access](/myaccount/node/troubleshooting/security-and-access/).