How do i log into root?
 

Hey. I am sitting here and about to throw my computer out the window. How do i log into root? I have been trying everything i can think of and i can't for the life of me figure it out......someome help me please x.x:newbie:

I am running Linux, mandrake 9.2....if that helps at all....i already feel dumb asking this...can't somone help the stupid girl???

What distribution are you running? In SuSe, i simply log out of kde, and then type root in the username box and enter the root password. Alternatively you could type su in a terminal, then enter the root password. This will give you super user priviledges.

I'm surprised you didn't already get a response, anyway, here's what you need to do:

FYI: A "$" denotes type the stuff after this in a terminal window, people will use this to show you how to do stuff along the way, just so you don't get confused.

After you type su and hit enter, it'll ask you to put in the root password. After that, you have become root. That's all there is to it! To get out of root (since it's a bad idea to run stuff as root if you don't have to) simply do:

And you're sent back to whatever user was on before they su'd to root.

It's generally bad practice to log in as root in a GUI, it's much safer to do it strictly within the terminal.

This depends what you mean... log into root:

• If you are at a text prompt that asks for your username, type root. If there's a password, you'll be prompted to enter it.
• If you are in a GUI such as kde, gnome, or a window manager, open up a console (for example, click the konsole button on the task bar on kde). Type "su" (without the quotation marks at the prompt). This stands for superuser and will give you root's priveleges. Again, if there is a root password, you will be prompted to enter it.
• An alternative method in a GUI is to hold down the ctrl and alt keys and press an f-button (probably f2). This will give you a text prompt where you can log in by typing "root" (again, without the quotation marks, and again, if you have a root password, you will be prompted for it).

Brian

I stand corrected. Thanks for the pointer.

Thanks bunches. Now i understand and i know how to get in. You guys rock! *continues what she was going to o now that she knows what to do*