ssh: (Locked out) Google 2 factor Authentication asking password again and again

Question

I enabled google 2 factor authentication for my server, but it started acting weirdly and I am locked out. I have access to VNC, but my password has a special symbol @ and I am unable to input that via VNC. I am locked out.

That is the problem. If I reboot, the VNC wakes up only at login screen!! I am unable to access the GRUB now.. :( — Sibidharan, Sep 10 '16 at 11:47
You don't say what virtualisation technology it is. Are you sure it's a proper virtual server, or is it just a container? If it is a real VPS, you need to work with the vritualisation provider to find out why you can't get "remote console" access at the GRUB phase. — MadHatter, Sep 10 '16 at 11:51
I am getting the VNC login screen.. But the issue is my password has @ in it which I am unable to input via VNC. — Sibidharan, Sep 10 '16 at 11:51
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/45187/discussion-between-madhatter-and-sibidharan). — MadHatter, Sep 10 '16 at 11:52
Glad we could fix it, Sibidharan. By the way, did you zero out root's password, or replace it with a known hash? (Just so I can get the answer precise.) — MadHatter, Sep 10 '16 at 14:20
@MadHatter I zeroed it out and set a new password using `passwd` — Sibidharan, Sep 10 '16 at 14:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 10 '16 at 14:17

As the chat log may or may not still show, the underlying problem was that non-alphanumeric characters weren't being correctly transmitted by the VNC-based virtual console, so there was no way to type an @ character. The solution was booting the VPS off rescue media, using UpCloud's interface for booting from virtual media, and zeroing out the root password from the /etc/shadow file.

ssh: (Locked out) Google 2 factor Authentication asking password again and again

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