Ubuntu server
 

please can somebody help me to activate my root account on my ubuntu server?
thank you.

You don't "activate" it, there is no such thing.

You *CAN* create a root password for it but this is WRONG and you should NOT do this.

If you want to become root, just run "sudo -i" and enter YOUR password. That is the Ubuntu model, Don't break it.

the root account should be created during install.

you should seldom (read: never) login as root; you should probably be using sudo to run certain commands with root privileges.

please provide more info.

Ubuntu Server, Being 'root'
 

I have a follow on question to this:

I'm trying to install a Lexmark printer driver. I got the correct one from the manufacturer. While running the program from the GUI it asks for a 'root password'. I type in the password and it is disallowed. However I know that this is the correct one because I use it all the time for other software updates, etc. I'm going to try to invoke the program via terminal using the 'sudo' construct and see if it will accept it that way. Is this the correct approach?

Ubuntu 12.10 is an awesome distro. I'm having much fun using it and recently it has supplanted my Windows 7 usage entirely. I've tried others in the past to a small degree and this one is miles ahead.

Regards,
Gary

i think it mite be that ubuntu's sudo is weird. try using the regular users passwd.

i never got my lexmark x5470 printer to work in fedora (i think lexmark has poor linux support compared to hp).

That is the exact printer I'm trying to install. What do you mean 'regular' password?

use the passwd for username you are currently logged in as (instead of the root passwd).

else, maybe that user has to be in /etc/sudoers ?

>passwd for username you are currently logged in as (instead of the root passwd).

I always log in using this same password when I first turn on the machine. If there are any updates indicated available for the distribution, it asks me for a password and I enter this one. The updates proceed without a hitch at this point.

Is this password considered to be different from 'root'?
Do you designate a 'root' password in a seperate action?
Should I be making a restricted user profile and logging onto this instead?

gasmth8:

Most Linux distributions during installation ask the user to create a user and set a password. They also have the user set a root password.
What is being said is that Ubuntu and its derivatives do not do this. You create a user during installation and set a password. When you want to do root/administrative tasks that require root privileges in Ubuntu, you are asked for a password and that password is the user password you created during isntallation. You can add other users and give other users root privileges also.

There isn't any need to set a separate root password although you can.