diff --git a/misc/confluent-prepivot.sh.rh8 b/misc/confluent-prepivot.sh.rh8
index 3cf93cc6..6bdbdcf3 100644
--- a/misc/confluent-prepivot.sh.rh8
+++ b/misc/confluent-prepivot.sh.rh8
@@ -5,3 +5,9 @@ while [ -h $BUNDLENAME ]; do
 done
 
 cat /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt > $BUNDLENAME
+sed -i 's/install::/install:*:/' /sysroot/etc/shadow
+sed -i 's/root::/root:*:/' /sysroot/etc/shadow
+mkdir -p /sysroot/root/.ssh
+chmod 700 /sysroot/root/.ssh
+cp /ssh/authorized_keys /sysroot/root/.ssh
+chmod 600 /sysroot/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
\ No newline at end of file