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Old 01-06-2007, 02:00 AM   #1
etfd
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root password doesn't work at log in, works using "su"


hey guys, my root password doesn't work when i try to log onto the system as root, but it does work if I log in as another user then do "su". I need to be able to log onto my system as root for back up purposes and can't figure this out. Anyone seen something like this before?

thanks,

David
 
Old 01-06-2007, 02:24 AM   #2
MoonMind
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David:

As long as you can do su, there's actually no need to log in as root! In fact, this is most definitely a safety feature (not being able to login as root, I mean), many people change their system's behaviour to do exactly that.

Solutions without changing the safety level:
- If you can, log in with your user and use su - it's more healthy that way.
- Install and use sudo, adding your user to /etc/sudoers - but for safety's sake, have sudo use a password. man sudo and man sudoers are very helpful.
- Later on, you may even want to write a simple script to do your backup tasks for you (that can be run by cron as root).
 
Old 01-08-2007, 03:05 PM   #3
gparker
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David, You didn't mention how you are trying to log on, or where. Are you using ssh? If so, you can uncomment the line below in sshd_config:

PermitRootLogin: Yes
 
Old 01-10-2007, 06:38 AM   #4
MoonMind
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gparker: Technically, you're right - but I'd strongly advise against this, since it's not good practice. But of course, it's the way to achieve what you describe...

M.
 
  


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