John BORIS on 22 Jun 2011 09:47:22 -0700


[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [PLUG] Ubuntu root password


Eric,
By no stretch am I a guru on Ubuntu. But this is what I have been told.
Some other Ubuntu Guru can chime in. When you install Ubuntu it assigns
sudo right s to the first user you create at install time. That is why
your password works when it prompts you for a password when you do any
root function via sudo. If you want to have other users to have this
sudo right you have to add their logins to the sudousers. You will have
to Google that for the correct docs. I read it and figured it was just a
pain to deal with and left things as they are.

I don't think it matters what install you do, it locks root by default
and lets you alter the security after you install it. Similar to SELinux
in Red hat. It is enabled at install and you have to manually disable it
after the install.

Hope this sheds some light.

John J. Boris, Sr.
JEN-A-SyS Administrator
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
"Remember! That light at the end of the tunnel
Just might be the headlight of an oncoming train!"

>>> "Eric H. Johnson" <ejohnson@camalytics.com> 6/22/2011 12:38 PM >>>
John, Eric,

Ok, got it. I forced the root password before I saw John's post, which
worked. Is that the correct way, or should I have added a local user to
the
sudoers file. How does the full install of Ubuntu handle this? 

Thanks,
Eric


This is true in Ubuntu. Without a root password set it doesn't allow
you
to login as root. 
Here is the link to the Ubuntu Docs explaining this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo 

This confounded me for a while when I first started using Ubuntu.
After
a few months administering a Ubuntu Server I am used to using sudo to
accomplish mostly everything.

John J. Boris, Sr.
JEN-A-SyS Administrator
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
"Remember! That light at the end of the tunnel
Just might be the headlight of an oncoming train!"

>>> "Eric at Lucii.org" <eric@lucii.org> 6/22/2011 12:15 PM >>>
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

In my experience the root password in Ubuntu is unset.  They expect
you
to
provide your user password to the sudo command to become root.

I typically sudo to root and then set a password.  This is for my
workstation...
not sure what best practice is for a server sitting on the 'net but if
you
choose a good password you should be okay.  I never allow root to
directly ssh
into system.

Eric

On 06/22/2011 11:08 AM, Eric H. Johnson wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I am trying to do a minimal install of Ubuntu 11.04. I started with
Ubuntu
> server and selected minimum install, previously known as JeOS (Just
Enough
> Operating System). I then manually installed xdm, gnome-core and
xorg.
> Everything came up fine, however whenever I run an application, such
as
> synaptic that prompts for a password I am told invalid password.
However if
> I run sudo synaptic for example and put the password in there, it
works
> fine. So I am entering the correct password, at least for sudo. Is
there a
> separate password for root, or is there something that I still need
to
> install to synch the passwords?
> 
> Thanks, 
> Eric
> 
> 
> 
>
___________________________________________________________________________
> Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --       
http://www.phillylinux.org 
> Announcements -
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce 
> General Discussion  --  
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug 
> 

- -- 
#  Eric Lucas
#
#                "Oh, I have slipped the surly bond of earth
#                 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings...
#                                        -- John Gillespie Magee Jr
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ 

iEYEARECAAYFAk4CFSUACgkQ2sGpvXQrZ/7ZaACgqwGnLMGWxk0uCOLZ39tqcXh+
aAYAoKLqJGkffJEj5+Ehf3gZfAAdMQZH
=fPjY
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --       
http://www.phillylinux.org 
Announcements -
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce 
General Discussion  --  
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug 
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --       
http://www.phillylinux.org 
Announcements -
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce 
General Discussion  --  
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug 

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --       
http://www.phillylinux.org 
Announcements -
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce 
General Discussion  --  
http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug