Jenkins Password Recovery: From Panic to Access in Minutes

What If You Forget Your Jenkins Password?

Let’s talk about a situation we don’t usually think about…
What if you forget your Jenkins password? Or worse — what if the Jenkins admin forgets theirs?

Real-Time Setup & Daily Workflow

1. Default Admin

   • When you first install Jenkins, it creates a built-in admin user.

   • You set an initial password at first launch (from the autogenerated secret).

2. Create Your Own Admin Account

   • Immediately create a new user (e.g. beth_admin) with full admin permissions.

   • Log out of the default admin and only use beth_admin (or another named account) going forward.

3. Spin Up Project Users

   • For each team/environment—dev, test, prod—create dedicated Jenkins accounts.

   • Grant roles/permissions scoped to those folders, jobs, or pipelines.

4. Ongoing Maintenance

   • If the testing team forgets their test_user password:

     1. Log in as beth_admin

     2. Go to Manage Jenkins → Manage Users

     3. Select test_user → Configure → Reset Password

   • Share the new password securely.

Scenario 1: A Regular User Forgets Their Password

When any non-admin user loses access:

1. User reaches out to the Jenkins admin.

2. Admin resets the password via Manage Jenkins → Manage Users.

3. Admin communicates the new credentials securely.

4. User logs back in and can continue work instantly.

Scenario 2: The admin forgets the password

You might think: Who resets the admin’s password then?
In 99.99% of real-time production environments, this isn’t a problem. Why?

✅ Real-World Strategy

• We don’t rely on just one admin account.

• We assign admin rights to more than one user.

• We don’t use the default admin account once Jenkins is set up.

• Admin credentials are often stored in secure tools like AWS Secrets Manager, Vault, 1Password, etc.

But what if everything fails?

💥 Worst Case: All Admin Credentials Lost!

Let’s take an analogy:

You lock yourself out of your car with the keys inside.
What do you do? You might break the window to get in.
Similarly, in Jenkins, you can break in — but safely.

Here’s how 👇

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Jenkins Emergency Access – Resetting Admin Password

1. SSH into your Jenkins server (e.g., EC2 instance).

2. Navigate to the Jenkins home directory:

    cd /var/lib/jenkins/
   

3. Open the config.xml file:

    sudo vim config.xml
   

4. Find and change:

    <useSecurity>true</useSecurity>
   

   to

    <useSecurity>false</useSecurity>
   

5. Restart Jenkins:

    sudo systemctl restart jenkins
   

   

   • Now, when you access Jenkins in the browser, it will skip the login and take you directly to the dashboard.

6. Go to:

   • Manage Jenkins → Configure Global Security

   • Turn security back on: set useSecurity to true

   • Choose Jenkins’ own user database

   • Save settings

7. Go to Manage Jenkins → Users

   • Find your admin user ID

   • Click on it → Change password

8. Finally, go to:

   • Manage Jenkins → Configure Global Security

   • Set authorization to: "Logged-in users can do anything"

   • Save

🔁 You’ll now be redirected to the login screen.
Use your new credentials to log in.

Forgot Your Username Too?

No problem—list the users directory:

cd /var/lib/jenkins/users/
ls

Each folder name corresponds to a Jenkins user ID. Spot your username in the list, then use it to log in or reset its password.

Key Takeaways

• Always retire or rename the default admin user after initial setup.

• Maintain at least two active admin accounts to avoid single points of failure.

• Use a dedicated secrets management solution for storing and rotating credentials.

• Schedule regular, automated backups of your $JENKINS_HOME (including config.xml).

• Document these recovery steps in your team’s runbook and practice them in a staging environment.

Pro Tip: Running a quarterly “lost password” drill on a test Jenkins instance will ensure your team stays sharp—no surprises under pressure!

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