root passowrd

palisetty_suman · 02-14-2009, 01:41 AM

what is the command to change the root password

JulianTosh · 02-14-2009, 01:42 AM

you'll need to be root to do it, but it's the same for all users..

passwd

... works for current user

or passwd <user>

... for a specific user.

palisetty_suman · 02-14-2009, 02:03 AM

Thanks for that case. But if u take a different scenario, i am a normal user and suppose i forgot the root password, so i want to get a new root password what is the COMMAND for it

thierrys · 02-14-2009, 02:10 AM

There is no such thing as a command fr it since we do not know the circumstances.
which distribution are you using, is it a physically accessible machine etc.

Give some backgroud first so the appropriate procedure can be pointed out

thx
Thierry

JulianTosh · 02-14-2009, 02:19 AM

The command is still the same but the procedure is different since you will have to have physical access to the machine and reboot it.

But like thierrys says, we'll need to know more about the installation to help with that procedure.

Junior Hacker · 02-14-2009, 03:07 AM

Yah!
We don't just spill the beans around here. But there is/was an article on Youtube that I never looked at because of the dialup issue.
What if you had ill intensions, I wouldn't want to be responsible, but then again, you don't know me from a hole in the ground.

palisetty_suman · 02-14-2009, 03:14 AM

Hi my friends,
I am system administrator under training.
Suppose a student came to me and asked that he forgot the password for the root and he can login as a normal user only. He wants me to set a new password or recover the old password, how would i do it? Is there any command or procedure for it?

JulianTosh · 02-14-2009, 03:49 AM

sigh.

colucix · 02-14-2009, 03:53 AM

r3sistance · 02-14-2009, 05:08 AM

Also wouldn't it also matter if he has "SUDO" rights, you only need to go into single user mode if you have no super user access... if you have sudo rights you can reset root with "sudo passwd root", else it's the single user mode way. As far as it goes, any OS is not too hard to reset passwords on if their is physical access, just most people don't know how to do it... also the effects are in most cases, plain as day. Nothing is more dangerous then physical access... something to remember.

JulianTosh · 02-14-2009, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3sistance

if you have sudo rights you can reset root with "sudo passwd root"

Only if you've managed to seriously screw up you sudoers file. Sorry, but this is a pet peive of mine so I'm going to get back up on my soapbox for this issue once again today.

<soapbox>

'sudo' is not meant to be an alternative to 'su'. It's purpose is to allow a non-root user access to a very specific set of commands that need to be run as root.

Allowing users to sudo all commands and, especially, run shells, is a very very bad thing.

</soapbox>

r3sistance · 02-14-2009, 06:07 AM

Sudo is safer then su, Sudo automatically logs you out of super user privilages after 15 minutes where su does not. You shouldn't really directly login as root or allow su on any machine where someone other then you can access it, I work in a datacenter with other technicians so I have to use sudo, as to not expose my own personal server should I leave it open to handle any work.

thierrys · 02-14-2009, 06:10 AM

+1 for the Admiral

for the OP, giving student root - why the hell would you want to do that?

r3sistance · 02-14-2009, 09:54 AM

Meh, Sudo is just way more secure so I'll countine to use it over su, AOL CDs were not meant to replace coasters, but hey they do the job!

Anyways, the OP never stated it was actually his computer, for all we know the student could be using their own machine... or it could be a training lab... it's hardly something to say "why the hell" over, their are valid possibilities.

palisetty_suman · 02-14-2009, 09:56 AM

I am not satisfied with the answer my friends gae it to me. Being a site with loads of system administrators, nobody could answer a simple question.
Regarding r3sistance, sir if the user's name is not in sudoer's file then its not possible for me to use the sudo command. What's the alternative.