Ubuntu won't let me log on as root
in [UK Linux]
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From: Nigel Wade on 22 Jun 2010 04:36 On 22/06/10 01:04, Martin Gregorie wrote: > On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:08:50 +0100, Tom Anderson wrote: > >> On Mon, 21 Jun 2010, Martin Gregorie wrote: >> If they're at in front of your computer, all they have to guess is where >> the screws are. >> > As I said elsewhere, if they're just after hardware that's true enough, > but if they want to read the data on your disk they either have to know > some passwords or walk off with the disk, or use their own boot media, then they have full access to all your unecrytped disks. -- Nigel Wade
From: Dave W on 22 Jun 2010 11:36 I have solved my problem, thanks to everyone especially Paul Martin and Ian. I logged in as user ddw and tried "sudo passwd root" as suggested. However I got the message "ddw is not in the sudoers file. This incident has been reported". (Now I'm shaking in trepidation waiting for Security to kick down my door! Ubuntu is certainly unfriendly as others have said.) So I booted into Rescue mode as root. In etc/sudoers file, there are helpful comments saying that the file must be edited using the visudo command, which checks syntax etc. Under '# User privilege specification' I was able to uncomment 'root ALL=(ALL) ALL' (and added the line 'ddw ALL=(ALL) ALL' for good measure). There is also the line '%sudo ALL=NOPASSWD: ALL'. I don't understand the syntax, but these lines apparently allow members of group sudo to have full privileges and not need a password. I also looked at /etc/gdm/gdm.conf. This gives default configurations for login, and must be edited with gdmsetup command. This leaves gdm.conf untouched, but edits gdm.conf-custom file which overrides gdm.conf. In this, under [daemon] I have 'AutomaticLoginEnable=true' and under [security] I have 'AllowRoot=true' and 'CheckDirOwner=false'. The first line would enable me to login as user ddw without typing anything, but I get a message that root cannot be automatically logged in, so I have not gone for automatic login. However the lines under [security] now allow me to login as root. (Naysayers take note). I intend to go back to logging in as ddw after I have installed some programs and start doing real work on it, to minimise risk. Dave W
From: Chris Davies on 22 Jun 2010 11:28 Dave W <davewi11(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > When I installed from the CD, there was an option to ignore UUID bits > on the partition. I do not understand this so did not tick this > option. I suspect you mean "setuid bit" rather than "UUID bit". The setuid bit is used to indicate which programs have permissions over and above your user account. (/bin/passwd is one such example.) You must *not* choose to ignore setuid bits for your root filesystem, as otherwise the system will not be able to run properly. > If I re-installed with this option might this help? I doubt it, as it appears you chose (guessed?) correctly. Regards, Chris
From: Simon Brooke on 23 Jun 2010 02:55 On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:09:13 +0100, Chris Davies wrote: > On 20/06/10 12:24, Martin Gregorie wrote: >> Does anybody know how to make the current Fedora graphical login screen >> accept a root login? > > On Debian the files are /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf (installation > defaults) and /etc/gdm/gdm.conf (per-system overrides). Even if Fedora > is different this will hopefully give you some pointers to the sort of > filenames for which you should be searching. The files are split into > sections, each starting with a [square bracketed] title (like the > infamous WIN.INI file of old). If you have both files, only customise > gdm.conf. The necessary adaptations are as follows: > > [security] > AllowRoot=true Running an X session as root (particularly with user environments like Gnome and KDE) is often thought to be a very unwise practice; too many things get started up which you really don't want running with root privilege. Much better to log in as root on the console, or alternatively to log in yourself, open a terminal window, and su to root - or sudo, which is, after all, the way which Ubuntu encourages and supports. However, it's your machine, you can do what you like with it. -- ;; Semper in faecibus sumus, sole profundam variat
From: F8BOE on 23 Jun 2010 03:12
Tom Anderson wrote: > On Mon, 21 Jun 2010, F8BOE wrote: > >> If Ubuntu is the "the only distro that satisfies" you, >> - you missed the real distros for beginners >> - you missed the last distros released >> - you didn't search enough >> >> If you need to login as root under Unix, >> - you cannot use your distro's configuration tool >> - your distro have no configuration tool >> - you have chosen the wrong distro >> - you are better using winboobs >> >> Ubuntu IS for sure NOT a distro for beginners. Distros easy to use for >> beginners have always a real configuration tool such as the MCC for >> Mandriva. > > I thought the whole point of Ubuntu was that it was for beginners? It > looks flashy, it's got lots of hardware support, so you can install and go > like you would with Windows. It's even overcomplicated and error-prone, to > make switchers feel completely at home! > > tom > Hello, Yes you wrote it... It looks flashy and that's it! It has got a lot of HW support like all other distros... And it is an equivalent of a Debian Unstable or MDV Cooker! Too many backport and testing packages for a beginner. Mandriva's MCC is a simple GUI that regroups all configuration programs in one application; I don't think that K/X/Ubuntu has such a GUI application to simplify your life... From 5.04 to 8.10, I didn't find one. Since 2004, I use MDV because it was the distro that made me the less hustle. And unifying the systems permits me to do speed installations from an external HDD or my local NFS server; 3 hour to get a running system. -- Ciao @+ < Sony VGN-FW54M powered by Mandriva-Linux 2010.0 > |