If you're unable to log in to Crowd as an administrator (for example, you've lost the administrator password) you can start Crowd in recovery mode to recover your admin user rights.

Use recovery mode to restore access

Recovery mode works by creating a virtual user directory with a temporary admin account. You set the password for this admin account when applying the system property.  Users can continue to log in and access Crowd while it is in recovery mode.

To recover administrator user rights:

1. Stop Crowd.

2. Edit <installation-directory>/apache-tomcat/bin/setenv.sh or setenv.bat and add the following system property, replacing <your-password> with a unique, temporary password. 

   -Datlassian.recovery.password=<your-password>

3. Start Crowd manually (don't start Crowd as a service).
4. Log in to Crowd with the username recovery_admin and the temporary password you specified in the system property. 
5. Reset the password for your existing admin account, or create a new account and add it to the appropriate administrator group. 
6. Confirm that you can successfully log in with your new account.
7. Stop Crowd. 
8. Edit <installation-directory>/apache-tomcat/bin/setenv.sh or setenv.bat and remove the system property. 
9. Restart Crowd using your usual method (manually or by starting the service). 

Good to know:

• Remove the system property as soon as you have restored admin access. 
• Don't leave Crowd in recovery mode, or use the recovery_admin account as a regular administrator account.  
• Your temporary password should be unique. Don't use an existing password or the one you intend to use for your admin account.