SmartOS mounts /etc/shadow from /usbkey/shadow so we can change the root password for the global zone after install. Here’s how:

1. Fire up a console or ssh session as root in the global zone

2. Check the existing permissions on the file

    $ ls -l /usbkey/shadow
    -r--------   1 root     root         560 Oct 19 16:45 /usbkey/shadow
   

3. Make the file writable

    $ chmod 600 /usbkey/shadow
   

4. Fire up vi to edit the file

    $ vi /usbkey/shadow
   

5. Edit the line containing root to change the crypted password. See shadow(4) if you need help with the format of /etc/shadow & use /usr/lib/cryptpass to generate a hash for the password you desire. (Remember to clean the bash history!)

6. Save the file and exit vi

7. Make the file readonly again

    $ chmod 400 /usbkey/shadow
   

8. Double check permissions are correct on the file again

    $ ls -l /usbkey/shadow
    -r--------   1 root     root         560 Oct 19 16:49 /usbkey/shadow
   

Job done. Verify by logging in as root (invoking /usr/bin/login from an ssh session makes this easy to verify.)