[Hans M Aus]

Today I was unable to activate the root account in Netinfo Manager on two Macs running 10.3.4. Does anyone else have the same problem?

[Brass]

What error/symptoms are you getting?

Can you "sudo -s" in the Terminal?

[Hans M Aus]

No errors. The NetInfo security remains as enable root account. After logout, the other users option no longer appears. I just read on the Apple forum that the security update killed the enable root account.

[tooki]

I just tried it.

Indeed, NetInfo Manager's "Enable Root User" command doesn't change to "Disable Root User" as it needs to. But it does successfully enable the root user, as I was easily able to log in as root.

If you're using the list of users, rather than the name/password fields, you can temporarily access a name/password login by pressing option-tab (nothing will appear to happen!) and then clicking on any user. It won't log in as them, but will just give the typed-in login fields where you can log in as any user, including root.

tooki

[Hans M Aus]

I'll try your tip.

But how do I know that root has been disabled after I'm finished ?
The Security is always set to enable root.

[hudson1]

Hmmm.... Sounds like some other problem is going on as NetInfo Manager appears to be toggling properly between Enable and Disable root access in my Security menu (10.3.4).

[Hans M Aus]

The Apple discussion forum states that the problem is the security update and not, as I thought, 10.3.4

[timmerk]

Yes, it is not 10.3.4 update that did it. I had this problem before, but thought it was just my machine. I forgot how I got it enabled though - I think I logged into root somehow, but still didn't have right permissions, then did passwd to change it, then go back into NetInfo and redo it. Somewhere along the lines, I got it working! :-)

[Brass]

will it work if you try (in the Terminal):

sudo passwd

(ie, change root's password) First, you'll be prompted with your own password, then you'll have to enter and confirm a new root password.

[Phil333]

Brass I tried your tip but it didnt work

[CatOne]

Originally posted by Phil333:
Brass I tried your tip but it didnt work

If you really want to enable the root user, just do 'sudo passwd root' and enter the root password. You'll have to authenticate with *your* password to run the 'sudo', and then you'll have to enter the root password twice to change it to whatever you want it to be.

I should note there's no reason to enable root, because you can do whatever you need with sudo, and if you want a root shell, you can just do 'sudo -s' and give your admin password and you'll be logged in as root.

BUT... if you want to be able to su to root, then enable the command I noted above.

I should note, this will enable root but it may be out of synch with NetInfo manager so you may be unable to *disable* the root account after this. There's a fairly simple way to "reset" things, but I forget it

[scoot]

If you just want to be able to su to root, you do not need to enable root.

sudo su -