LinuxQuestions.org
Review your favorite Linux distribution.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie
User Name
Password
Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 07-21-2012, 09:08 AM   #1
abhishekgit
Member
 
Registered: Jan 2012
Location: India
Distribution: Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora, Rhel5,openSUSE
Posts: 165

Rep: Reputation: 12
Unable to open the web browser as root user


Hi everyone,
I am a newbie and i am unable to run my default web browser chromium as root. I use sabayon 8 linux. As i open the browser this pops up.
Code:
Please run chromium as normal user, To run as root you must specify an alternate --user-data-dir for storage of profile information.
What does this mean, and what is to be done. Kindly help. Thank you.



Regards...
 
Old 07-21-2012, 09:13 AM   #2
snowday
Senior Member
 
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 4,667

Rep: Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411
It means that running your web browser as root is arguably the worst thing you could possibly do from a security standpoint. Explain why you want to give the entire internet root access to your system?
 
Old 07-21-2012, 09:26 AM   #3
273
LQ Addict
 
Registered: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,679

Rep: Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373
I would suggest that if you don't know what the error message means you probably don't know enough to make the decision to run your web browser as root. It suggests to me you just have to specify a directory into which user data will be stored, since you're running the browser with a user it wasn't designed to be run as.
 
Old 07-21-2012, 11:24 AM   #4
abhishekgit
Member
 
Registered: Jan 2012
Location: India
Distribution: Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora, Rhel5,openSUSE
Posts: 165

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 12
@snowpine I am studying how to configure apache web server 1.3.X under linux. In the book they mention all httpd operations are to be run as super user. As i log in to root, I wont be able to access internet for any help because i don't have a web browser.
 
Old 07-21-2012, 11:34 AM   #5
snowday
Senior Member
 
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 4,667

Rep: Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411Reputation: 1411
I think you need a new book. The current Apache version is 2.2. Apache 1.3 dates to the 1990s and is now "end of life." Your book's suggestion to browse the web as root is, to be blunt, terrible advice.

Have you seen the documentation here?
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/
 
Old 07-21-2012, 11:38 AM   #6
273
LQ Addict
 
Registered: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,679

Rep: Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373
abhishekgit, there is no need to log in as root. You should log in as your usual user account then either open a "root terminal" if your distro provides it or open a terminal and su to root in the terminal. That way you can perform root commands in the terminal and open your browser as your normal user account.
 
Old 07-21-2012, 12:25 PM   #7
abhishekgit
Member
 
Registered: Jan 2012
Location: India
Distribution: Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora, Rhel5,openSUSE
Posts: 165

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 12
@all
I never tried it logging in as normal user and using su. Never occurred to me. Thank you all for your time. :-)
 
Old 07-21-2012, 12:27 PM   #8
273
LQ Addict
 
Registered: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,679

Rep: Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373Reputation: 2373
You're welcome. Please set the thread solved if it works .
 
Old 07-22-2012, 09:11 PM   #9
chrism01
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Sydney
Distribution: Rocky 9.2
Posts: 18,308

Rep: Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744Reputation: 2744
note that
Code:
# this gives your root user, but orig user's env
su

# this gives you root user & root env
su -
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Failed to launch VMware Web Access: unable to find a graphical web browser. rob0t Linux - Server 0 03-18-2009 02:32 PM
Login user cannot browser web, but root work well. Ted Lin Debian 11 01-19-2009 11:12 PM
Can ping web page from telnet, but can't open it in web browser a.ilic Linux - Networking 1 04-01-2008 10:29 AM
Unable to access internet thru web browser corbis_demon General 3 10-22-2006 04:46 AM
unable to open apps when 'su'ing to root from user account ganja_guru Linux - Software 3 06-03-2005 10:51 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:01 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration