Hi Chillipepper
Please try this
> start shell user root
% ls -lo /var/etc/pam.conf
% chflags 0 /var/etc/pam.conf
% ls -lo /var/etc/pam.conf
If error "could not open /var/etc/pam.conf+: Operation not permitted" still exist then go ahead with the format install using the procedure mentioned in the link below.
Follow this link: https://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=KB20643&actp=search
Thanks
Arul