- Password Changes and FileVault 2
- The Guest User and FileVault 2
- Enabling Admin Users for FileVault 2 via System Preferences
- Creating an Institutional Recovery Key
- Erasing a FileVault 2?Encrypted Volume from the Command Line
- Setting a Text-Only Login Banner from the Command Line for the FileVault 2 Pre-Boot Login Screen
- Booting into Single-User Mode on a FileVault 2?Encrypted Mac
- Using Apple's Internet Recovery to Unlock or Decrypt a FileVault 2?Encrypted Boot Drive
- FileVault 2 and UUIDs
- Automating fdesetup authrestart in 10.9.x or Later
- Conclusion
Booting into Single-User Mode on a FileVault 2–Encrypted Mac
I met a Mac admin who was concerned about using FileVault 2 in his environment because he didn't want to lose access to tools available in single-user mode. Like a number of Mac admins, he'd found single-user mode valuable in helping to diagnose and fix issues on troublesome Macs.
Fortunately, Apple makes it reasonably easy to boot into single-user mode on a FileVault 2–encrypted system:
Hold down Command-S after powering the system. The Mac will begin booting into single-user mode, and then the FileVault 2 pre-boot login screen will appear (see Figure 32).
Figure 32 Authenticating at the FileVault 2 pre-boot login as part of booting into single-user mode.
Authenticate at the FileVault 2 pre-boot login screen by selecting an account and providing the account's password. The Mac will unlock and continue booting into single-user mode (see Figure 33).
Figure 33 Booted into single-user mode.