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JonyKyte 02-25-2004 03:42 AM

Giving a user root privliges
 
Hello,

Is this possible? If so where do i enable it? I've had a look in user privileges & tried making the user a member of root but it didn't seem to make any difference.

Thanks

Kristijan 02-25-2004 03:50 AM

Take a read of 'man sudoers'

It's just a list of what users can execute what.

JonyKyte 02-25-2004 04:04 AM

CHeers

bigVoice 02-25-2004 06:10 AM

You could also, (as root), add the user you wanted to have priviledges to the group "root". That said... don't. It isn't really a good security practice. I know it seems like a pain, but you're always positioning security against convenience. The more of one, the less of the other.

johnny1959 02-25-2004 06:21 AM

I agree with bigVoice. Doesn´t seem like a good idea. What I usually do when tinkering around is launch a second KDE-session as root. This session will be available with strg-alt F8 and I can switch back to the user level with strg-alt F7. This should decrease the "pain".

sjia 02-25-2004 06:33 AM

How big of a security is it and what percisely causes it to be a security.

sjia 02-25-2004 06:42 AM

security issue
 
Quote:

Originally posted by bigVoice
You could also, (as root), add the user you wanted to have privileges to the group "root". That said... don't. It isn't really a good security practice. I know it seems like a pain, but you're always positioning security against convenience. The more of one, the less of the other.
Security Issue

Is the security issue related to on-line hackers?

Are you taking about a work or home network where other people have access to your computers?

My computers are hiding behind a router firewall, and no one has access to my computers. Is it still a security issue for me if I assign my user name to the root group?

Does anyone know the answer to this.

vectordrake 02-25-2004 06:44 AM

no need. try "su" at a prompt. It should ask you for the root password. Enter it. If no error, you are root.

JonyKyte 02-25-2004 06:51 AM

I've manage to sort this with the sudo command. It was just the 1 program I wanted to run so this seems like the best option.

Being able to launch a second session should be pretty handy. Cheers johnny1959. How do I launch the second session inthe first place though?

Sjia - I would assume the security risk is altering setting etc. I'm sure someone will correct me if I''m wrong though.

erm...Not sure if I should start a new thread for this but..

Is there anyway I can create a script for the new sudo command and run this by double clicking an icon rather than a konsole.

Cheers again

sjia 02-25-2004 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vectordrake
no need. try "su" at a prompt. It should ask you for the root password. Enter it. If no error, you are root.
I think the reason for the question was so we would not have to keep entering the root password everytime we need to make changes to our users desktop.

Correct me if I am wrong.

sjia 02-25-2004 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JonyKyte
Is there anyway I can create a script for the new sudo command and run this by double clicking an icon rather than a konsole.

Cheers again

If you right click on desktop and select create New, then Link to Application, ---- now create your own commands using Execute tab and select run in Terminal. That should work.

vectordrake 02-25-2004 07:13 AM

I think I follow your train of though, but it seems like a lot of work to go to just to save a little work. Most reasons for root are updates and changes to system files. You can do that with a quick password entry and then you're done and safe. Its just good practice. Its like using food-prcessor to chop one vegetable. Sure its quick to do the job, but the cleanup requires much more work than just hauling out yer knife and cutting board.

By the way, running a user as root poses little security risk if you are the only one with access to the machine. If your user is enabled as root by default, then the user account is a vulnerability to compromise. Granted, with a firewalled machine, its more difficult to accecc the machine, but any servers than are forewarded (like telnet, ssh, or even a web server) will give an open port for an exploit.

The danger if a *nix box that has been rooted is the power if the raw sockets. Its a great tool for a DDoS attack, as its able to send huge packet rapidly. This was the basis of Steve Gibson's rant during XPs release, as it had that power available to a hacker.

It all depends on what you use your machine for, I guess. If you need root priveleges so much, you're likely better off running as root and suduing to a user account. Up to you.

sjia 02-25-2004 07:46 AM

I don't mean to take this thread away on you JonyKyte, it's just down my ally.

Thanks for your response vectordrake. I am using a network and I have quite a lot of knowledge of security with MS. But I am not sure of security risk's in destros environment.

I am using one of my network machines to try several destross packages before I settle with one or two. I have 3 installed on extended partitions. Redhat, SuSE and Mandrake. I am starting to favour Mandrake. But I am using my machine to configure and learn as much as I can about linux. Security factors are really important to me and I do not want to open my network up to security risks. At the same time I need to give them exposure to connecting to a networks, intranets and the Internet.

vectordrake 02-25-2004 06:06 PM

Then you need a lot of root accesses. Perhaps its warranted in such a case. I agree with your choice of Mandrake. You might want to investigate Slackware as well (I'm about to). The thing that brings me back to Mandy is the predictability of its file structure. I've used a lot of linux's and also had FreeBSD and NetBSD installed at one point or another. I find that files are easy to find with Mandrake. Anything that is POSIX seems to carry over between the *nix's. My 0.02

compu73rg33k 03-07-2004 12:50 PM

Quote:

I agree with bigVoice. Doesn´t seem like a good idea. What I usually do when tinkering around is launch a second KDE-session as root. This session will be available with strg-alt F8 and I can switch back to the user level with strg-alt F7. This should decrease the "pain".

How do you do this?


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