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Calibre-web, how to fix being locked out and reset password from shell

Simone Messaggi

Simone Messaggi

• 2 min read
Category tech

I totally love Calibre-web, over the years it's become my go to repository / archive for everything from webcomic to eBooks that I've download from the web.

Here's an example screenshot:

Calibre-web gui

Pretty cool huh? you can do everything from shelving your books in categories, join books from a collection, edit your review, load metadata from the internet, and the list goes on... here's what listed on the github page:

  • Modern and responsive Bootstrap 3 HTML5 interface
  • Full graphical setup
  • Comprehensive user management with fine-grained per-user permissions
  • Admin interface
  • Multilingual user interface supporting 20+ languages (supported languages)
  • OPDS feed for eBook reader apps
  • Advanced search and filtering options
  • Custom book collection (shelves) creation
  • eBook metadata editing and deletion support
  • Metadata download from various sources (extensible via plugins)
  • eBook conversion through Calibre binaries
  • eBook download restriction to logged-in users
  • Public user registration support
  • Send eBooks to E-Readers with a single click
  • Sync Kobo devices with your Calibre library
  • In-browser eBook reading support for multiple formats
  • Upload new books in various formats, including audio formats
  • Calibre Custom Columns support
  • Content hiding based on categories and Custom Column content per user
  • Self-update capability
  • "Magic Link" login for easy access on eReaders
  • LDAP, Google/GitHub OAuth, and proxy authentication support

You can even read books directly from the web interface, but I must admit the resulting experience is everything but stellar...

I run my own via docker container, using the image provided by the excellent linux-server. Setup is pretty straightforward

docker run -d \
  --name=calibre-web \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -e DOCKER_MODS=linuxserver/mods:universal-calibre `#optional` \
  -e OAUTHLIB_RELAX_TOKEN_SCOPE=1 `#optional` \
  -p 8083:8083 \
  -v /path/to/calibre-web/data:/config \
  -v /path/to/calibre/library:/books \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre-web:latest

And I love the fact this is a single container without a separate db or anything like that, it's very selfhosting friendy and easy to use.

The lockout problem

Let's say you're logging in from mobile and you accidentally click on the "Forgot Password?" button...

Don't click the forgot password button

And well, by design calibreweb will then set a random password for the user you selected and send it via email to the email address linked to that user.

Except that your calibreweb install might not be allowed to send email in ANY WAY

I know that's what mine does, as I don't let docker containers send mail in normal conditions.

WELL, You just LOCKED yourself out of your calibre-web instance my friend :/

Is there a way we can fix this without re-creating the calibre-web instance from scratch?

Solution: reset that password from inside

Assuming that you're using docker, enter the calibreweb container:

docker exec -it calibre-web bash

#now that you're in just run this command:
root@xxx:/app/calibre-web# python3 cps.py -s myuser:myvery_STRONG_password789
Password for user 'myuser' changed
root@xxx:/app/calibre-web#

And that's all! You should now be able to login with your user and the new password.

p.s.: Thanks to this Reddit thread for the info: https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/v4h16j/calibreweb_for_some_reason_i_can_no_longer_log_in_

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