Solving Login Problems: Alternative ways for password resetting | WS.WebTV Documentation | WebTV Solutions

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First, some considerations...

1. Password storage
The WebTV does not store passwords in plain text, it stores "hashes". "Hashes" are a representation of the original passwords and they are not reversible. This means that passwords can not be "recovered" they can only be reset.

2. Password "hashing" function
Since WS.WebTV 2.2 (postfixes 1), the WebTV uses the PHP's built in password hashing function (PHP 5.5 or higher required) for generating the hashes, otherwise (if PHP version is previous to 5.5, or WS.WebTV version prior to 2.2 postfixes 1) it will use a "legacy" hashing method.

Password resetting methods

1. Standard method

If your WebTV is able to send E-Mails then you can reset the password of any account by visiting the login page and clicking the "Forgot password?" link. When using this method, the WebTV will ask for the E-Mail and then will send the password reset message to that address (of course, in case there is any account which matches that E-Mail).

If you are not receiving E-Mails from the WebTV then it is because one of the following:

Case 1: Your server has the PHP mail() function disabled or misconfigured (remember that you can verify this using the WebTV diagnostics tool). If this is the case, keep in mind that you can configure a SMTP account so that the WebTV can send E-Mails. In order to configure the SMTP account, edit the WebTV configuration file (config/Config.inc.php) and set the corresponding options.
$SEND_MAIL_USING_SMTP = true; // If you want the WebTV to send E-Mails using the SMTP account this variable must be true
$SMTP_HOST = "smtp.my-mail-server.com";
$SMTP_USERNAME = "example@my-mail-server.com";
$SMTP_PASSWORD = "topsecret";
$SMTP_PORT = 25; // The SMTP Port ...
$SMTP_AUTH = true; // Whether to use SMTP authentication. Ops: true or false.

Case 2: The mail server of the destination E-Mail address is considering message sent by the WebTV as SPAM. In this case look for the message in your SPAM folder.

2. Through the password reset utility

1 - Download and unzip the following file: reset_admin_password.zip
2 - Upload the file reset_admin_password.php to the server, into the WebTV root (where the index.php is located).
3 - Execute it from a Web Browser address bar: <WEBTV_URL>/reset_admin_password.php
4 - Done!: The utility will display the new password (randomly generated) assigned to the "admin" User account (the User account with ID 1).
5 - Log in with the admin account (along the new password) and change the password by the desired one.
6 - Delete the script from your server.
If, in a future, you need to reset the admin password again, repeat the steps above.

3. Master password method

WS.WebTV allows setting a master password. This is, a password which allows logging in using any username.

*** WS.WebTV 2.4+ ***
Since WS.WebTV 2.4, it is only possible to set the master password from the Content Administration interface; therefore, if you did not set this password in the past then you must use methods 1 or 2.

*** Older versions of WS.WebTV (up to 2.3.0.1) ***
If the first method is not working for you then you can temporarily set a master password to log in, change the password for the desired account and then remove the master password again.

Procedure for resetting the password for the "admin" account:
1. Edit the WebTV configuration file (config/Config.inc.php) and set the "master password" (it is explained in that same file). For example, iIf you set the master password (for example) equal to 0add42399f47c5125b45b292b8efb2b4, like this:
$MASTER_PASSWORD = "0add42399f47c5125b45b292b8efb2b4"; then you'll need to access using the following credentials:
    User: admin
    Password: my secret key
NOTE: "0add42399f47c5125b45b292b8efb2b4" is the MD5 hash for the text "my secret key". If you want to use other master password then provide a MD5 hash of the text you want to use as such.
2. Log in using the master password and change the password of the "admin" account (or for the desired account...).
3. Log out.
4. Log in using the new password (just to verify...).
5. If you were able to log in using the new password then remove the master password in the WebTV configuration file (config/Config.inc.php) by assigning an empty string, like this:
$MASTER_PASSWORD = "";